Indonesia etc
Subtitle: exploring the improbable nation
By: Elizabeth Pisani
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Number of pages: 404
ISBN-13: 9780393088588
Subjects: Social conditions; Social life and customs; Travel; Description and travel
Other titles: Indonesia etcetera
Description: "An entertaining and thought-provoking portrait of Indonesia: a rich, dynamic, and often maddening nation awash with contradictions. Jakarta tweets more than any other city on earth, but 80 million Indonesians live without electricity and many of its communities still share in ritual sacrifices. Declaring independence in 1945, Indonesia said it would 'work out the details of the transfer of power etc. as soon as possible.' With over 300 ethnic groups spread across 13,500 islands, the world's fourth most populous nation has been working on that 'etc.' ever since. Bewitched by Indonesia for twenty-five years, Elizabeth Pisani recently traveled 26,000 miles around the archipelago in search of the links that bind this impossibly disparate nation. Fearless and funny, Pisani shares her deck space with pigs and cows, bunks down in a sulfurous volcano, and takes tea with a corpse. Along the way, she observes Big Men with child brides, debates corruption and cannibalism, and ponders 'sticky' traditions that cannot be erased"--Provided by publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Improbable nation; title: The ties that bind; title: Sticky culture; title: Indonesian man; title: The emperor is far away; title: Happy families; title: Spoils of the earth; title: Private matters; title: Historical fictions; title: Misfits; title: Indigenous arts; title: Faith healing; title: The other Indonesia; title: Epilogue; title: Glossary.