Brandon Wilson to Read From His Inspiring New Tibet Book, Yak Butter Blues, at Tibet House U.S. in NYC

Hawaiian author Brandon Wilson will read from his inspiring new Tibet book, Yak Butter Blues: A Tibetan Trek of Faith, talk about the pleasures and pains of hiking 650 miles across Tibet, make a slide presentation, discuss the challenge of survival in Tibet, the joy of modern pilgrimage, and sign copies of his new book at Tibet House U.S. in New York City on Thursday, February 17 from 7-9pm.

January 26, 2005 -- Hawaiian author Brandon Wilson will read from his inspiring new Tibet book, Yak Butter Blues: A Tibetan Trek of Faith, talk about the pleasures and pains of hiking 650 miles across Tibet, discuss the challenge of survival in Tibet, the joy of modern pilgrimage, make a slide presentation, and sign copies of his book at Tibet House U.S. in New York City on Thursday, February 17 from 7-9pm.

Brandon and Cheryl Wilson are said to be the first Western couple to complete this incredible trek along an ancient pilgrimage trail from Lhasa, Tibet to Kathmandu, Nepal. Yak Butter Blues is a true adventure story, spiritual quest, a tale of survival and candid look at Tibet.

The story of their survival is sympathetically interwoven with that of their hosts, the kind Tibetan families who took them in and shared yak butter teaand faith in the Dalai Lama's return. Not only does the couple witness a culture teetering on the brink of extinctionbut they find a sense of greater purpose, a renewed faith and ultimately what it takes to endure.

Richard Bangs, Executive Producer/Director of Great Escapes MSNBC, recently called Yak Butter Blues "A wonderful and wild read...Brandon Wilson treats the distant worlds of Tibet as places that exist not only in the mathematics of geography, but also in the terra incognita of our imaginations. His writing is charged, alive, and a little threatening. Yak Butter Blues flickers insistently like a flashbulb afterimage in the mind long after the book is tucked away."

The Maui Weekly called Yak Butter Blues "a soaring travel diary. It places the reader in the thick of the action every bit as well as Marco Polo transported Italians to China and, as it seems to me, better than Lowell Thomas led readers in the dust of Lawrence of Arabia"

Library Journal said, "Wilson observes the impact of the Chinese occupation on the daily lives of Tibetans, which distinguishes his book from Heinrich Harrer's classic Seven Years in Tibet, which took place before the invasion of China and the fleeing of the Dalai Lama. Recommended for adventure travel and Tibetan culture collections."

Brandon Wilson is an accomplished travel writer, award-winning photographer, and expert long-distance trekker. He has now walked four major long-distance pilgrimage routes around the world. Wilson will appear at Tibet House U.S. at 22 West 15th Street, New York on Thursday, February 17 from 7-9pm. The public is cordially invited to this free event. Please RSVP: (212) 807-0563.

For a preview of Yak Butter Blues: A Tibetan Trek of Faith, visit Wilson's website at www.YakButterBlues.com.

Tibet House U.S. was founded in 1987, at the request of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, by Richard Gere, Philip Glass and Robert Thurman, among others. Its mission is to preserve and present Tibetan culture through educational programs, art exhibitions, publications, and conferences. Their ultimate aim is to establish a permanent institution to represent Tibets' displaced and endangered civilization with its unique devotion to the spiritual potential of all human beings.

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