Justin McDaniel is associate professor of religious studies at the University of California, Riverside.
The book reads very fluidly as McDaniel writes in an unusually clear and straightforward manner... The book will no doubt become essential reading for anyone studying the social history of Thailand and Laos or Theravada Buddhism. -- Daniel Veidlinger History of Religions Gathering Leaves and Lifting Words is a rich and often fascinating treatment of Buddhist monastic textual culture and bilingual commentary in the Siamese/Thai/Lao region, reflecting the author's long personal acquaintance with Lao/Thai monastic institutions and educational practices. H-ASIA With this book, McDaniel, a gifted textual scholar, has produced the first systemic study of how monks have been educated in Southeast Asia over the last five hundred years. Buddhadharma