Bali Today!

From his simple plank bench at Mrs. Somprong's tea stall, the ultimate egalitarian Jean Couteau casts a wry eye on everyday Balinese village life and the comings and goings of a steady stream of Balinese characters. The "Real Bali" is not what you think. Bali Today! collects over 100 essays and stories drawn from the English Corner column of the Bali Post, offering an unfiltered look at everyday life on the Island of the Gods. Jean Couteau, a leading cultural authority on Bali, writes with a wry, observant eye on village life, courtship rituals, religion, family, and the tensions between Balinese tradition and the modern world. Contributors include local and foreign voices: Wayan Sadha, Benito Lopulalan, and Usadi Wiryatnaya, among others. Illustrated throughout with cartoons by Wayan Sadha, one of Bali's most beloved caricaturists, and introduced by two leading writers on Indonesia, Goenawan Mohamad and Made Wijaya, this is an candid, ground-level portrait of Balinese society rarely seen in conventional travel or cultural writing.

Pages: 352, Edition: bilingual, Paperback, Tuttle Publishing