Sylvain Tesson has walked from Russia to India, participated in archaeological digs in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and wintered alone in a cabin on Lake Baikal in Siberia. One of France's most celebrated writers, he has been awarded the Prix Medicis and the Prix Goncourt de la nouvelle. He is author of The Consolations of the Forest and The Art of Patience: Seeking the Snow Leopard in Tibet, which won the 2019 Prix Renaudot. Drew S. Burk is the editor of the Univocal series with the University of Minnesota Press and translator of several works of continental philosophy and theory, including Felwine Sarr's Afrotopia (Minnesota, 2019).
On the Wandering Paths places Sylvain Tesson in a long tradition of writers fleeing civilization to find something older than empire.... part of a fresh syllabus for rejecting the world we've inherited. -Daniel Hornsby, from the Foreword Sylvain Tesson's On the Wandering Paths is an epic journey through the mountainous landscape of southern France. Revealing intimate knowledge of both the peasant landscape and its history, it is also Tesson's autobiography as an explorer and lyricist. A rare book in the traveling genre for everyone who dreams of leaving the rat race behind to find meaning in the beauty of nature. -Rane Willerslev, director, National Museum of Denmark The book is an autobiographical travel journal and a philosophical critique of modern life. -Well-Read Bear Review of Books A great book for those who wonder about the possibility of contentment and the role of mystery within the modern life. -Travel Pulse