Aama in America - by Broughton Coburn (Paperback)

About the Book

Vishnu Maya, called Aama (Mother) by everyone in her tiny Nepalese village, befriended the author when he was a Peace Corps worker in 1974. In 1988, on a trip prescribed by village priests as a way for the 84-year-old woman to earn merit by making a difficult trip late in life, Aama came to visit him. This chronicle of what became a 25-state, coast-to-coast adventure offers a profound exploration of beliefs, values, and a rediscovery of the spiritual that lies beneath the surface of America. 20 illustrations.

Book Synopsis

Vishnu Maya, called Aama (Mother) by everyone in her tiny Nepalese village, was living high in the Himalayas when she befriended American Peace Corps worker Broughton Coburn in 1974. In 1988, Aama came to visit him--on a trip prescribed by village priests as a way for the eighty-four-year-old, four-foot-eight woman to earn merit by making a difficult journey late in life.

Aama in Americais a vivid chronicle of what became a twenty-five-state, coast-to-coast adventure. Guided by the perpetual curiosity and deeply spiritual orientation of their ingenious, unpredictable travel companion, Coburn and his fiancée gradually began to view their country from an entirely new perspective. "Beneath the uniform, commercial, man-made epidermis of our country," Coburn writes, "Aama found a culture and landscape that was alive and sacred, and she steered us toward it."

Aama in America is on one level an offbeat American travelogue. But on another it is a profound exploration of beliefs, values, and lost spirituality, a rediscovery of the spiritual that lies beneath the surface of America, and a singular account of the meeting of two widely divergent cultures.

About the Author

Broughton Coburn, author or editor of seven books, including two national bestsellers, has worked in environmental conservation and development projects in the Himalayas for more than two of the past three decades. In addition, he has directed projects for the World Bank, World Wildlife Fund, and American Himalayan Foundation.