The Asiatics A Novel

Andreacute; Gide praisedThe Asiaticsas "an authentic masterpiece"; Thomas Mann called it "brilliant." First published in 1935 and virtually unavailable for years, this extraordinary novel tells the story of a young American--the unnamed narrator--who hitchhikes his way across Asia, from Beirut to China, living off the land and depending on the hospitality of the people he meets along the road. As Pico Iyer writes in the introduction, "[Prokosch] catches the peculiar logic that makes travel a land of alternative reality, a foreign state in itself that is an intoxication."

Frederic Prokosch (1908-89) was a distinguished American poet and novelist of the 1930s and 1940s. Among his other novels are The Seven Who Fled (1937) and Night of the Poor.

Pico Iyer is the author of several books of travel and fiction, including Video Night in Kathmandu.

"Prokosch has invented what might be called the geographical novel, in which he mingles sensuality with irony, lucidity with mystery. He conveys a fatalistic sense of life half hidden beneath a rich animal energy. He is a master of moods and undertones, a virtuoso in the feeling of place, and he writes in a style of supple elegance." --Albert Camus

"The Asiatics is original in its conception, beautiful in its execution. It belongs with the most notable modern American books. " --Carl Van Doren