Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
BOOKS
As Laos is one of the least-known countries in Southeast Asia, it should be no surprise
to find that books about it are hard to come by, to say nothing of quality works on the
country. You're likely to have more luck searching for many of the titles listed here
at an online bookstore such as
www.amazon.com
,
www.powells.com
or Thailand's
www.asiabooks.com
than you would wandering the aisles of your local bookshop.
Whilesomebooksneedtobespeciallyordered,othersareeasier(andsometimescheap-
er) to find at bookshops in Bangkok, Vientiane or Luang Prabang.
In the topic reviews below, the abbreviation o/p means “out of print”; titles marked
are
particularly recommended.
CULTURE, SOCIETY AND ENVIRONMENT
Sucheng Chan
(ed)
Hmong Means Free
. Fascinating personal narratives by three genera-
tions of Hmong refugees from five different families, which describe their lives as farmers
on the hilltops of Laos, as refugees in the camps of Thailand and as immigrants in the US.
Brett Dakin
Another Quiet American: Stories of Life in Laos
. A very personal account of
modern Laos by an American who lived in Vientiane during the 1990s.
Natacha Du Pont De Bie
Ant Egg Soup: the Adventures of a Food Tourist
. A wonderful
foodie journey across the country, illustrated with excellent recipes that the author collected
during her travels.
Anne Fadiman
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: a Hmong Child, Her Amer-
ican Doctors
and the
Collision of Two Cultures
. An excellent exploration of the sad, absorb-
ing tale of Lia Lee, a severely epileptic child, born to a family of Hmong refugees living in
California, who clash with their daughter's Western doctors over how to treat the child's con-
dition.
Stephen Mansfield
Culture Shock! Laos
. A cultural starter kit detailing how to avoid such
faux pas as touching your spouse in public, pointing your foot at someone and eating your
sticky rice with chopsticks. Mainly aimed at soon-to-be expats in Laos, with details on work-
ing in the country. Its tone is at times a little patronizing.
PhiaSing
et al.
Traditional Recipes of Laos
. Not only is this one of the rare books explaining
how to prepare Lao cuisine, it's the only book containing the recipes of the former royal chef
and master of ceremonies of Luang Prabang.
Liesbeth Sluiter
The Mekong Currency: Life and Times of a River
. An earthy account of
green issues along the Mekong corridor, in Laos, Cambodia and Thailand, Sluiter's book does
an excellent job of presenting environmental concerns from the perspective of the fishermen
