Skip to Main Content

You Are Not Here and Other Works of Buddhist Fiction

Edited by Keith Kachtick / Foreword by Surya Das
Published by Wisdom Publications
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
LIST PRICE $16.95

About The Book

The stories in You Are Not Here and Other Works of Buddhist Fiction dramatize the spirit of Buddhism, often with wit, always with verve, and each in some distinctly vivid way. Only a few of these stories touch on the Dharma explicitly and this book takes you on an inward tour across the whole world-to the jungles of Indonesia, a fog-shrouded park in San Francisco, the sun-blistered African veldt, a Burmese monastery surrounded by gun-fire, and the church-like sanctuary of a Nebraska barn, just to name a few. Collectively these stories paint a living portrait of the face of Buddhism, and readers may discover that that face is a strangely familiar one-and that every journey only ever leads home.

Edited by Keith Kachtick--the author of Hungry Ghost: A Novel (A New York Times Notable Book),You Are Not Here and Other Works of Buddhist Fiction--offers more surprising and transcendent work from some of fiction's famous names, alongside that of names you've never heard before--but surely will again:

Lama Surya Das, Keith Kachtick, Robert Olen Butler, Kate Wheeler, Anne Donovan, Samantha Schoech, Mary Yukari Waters, Andrew Foster Altschul, Jess Row, Anh Chi Pham, Sean Murphy, Pico Iyer, Dan Zigmond, Michele Martin, Sean Hoade, Jeff Davis, Jake Lorfing, Geshe Michael Roach, Anne Carolyn Klein, Dean Sluyter, Mark Salzman, and Hal Hallstein.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Wisdom Publications (April 24, 2006)
  • Length: 256 pages
  • ISBN13: 9780861712915

Browse Related Books

Raves and Reviews

"An elegant, entertaining collection. These stories not only reflect a Buddhist sensibility, but reading them is a meditation in itself."

– Christopher Moore, author of Lamb and A Dirty Job

"The greater part of the collection is simply a rich literary read where art and dharma seamlessly meet. [. . .] For a collection of stories with a unifying theme, there's a great diversity between these covers. The quality of the writing alone makes this second volume of 'Buddhist fiction' worth reading."

– Shambhala Sun

"Drawing on the ancient appeal of 'Tell me a story,' Keith Kachtick has brought together a volume of exquisite tales that breathe with the living spirit of the dharma. These are the sutras of our times, played out in the lives of people we might meet next door."

– Lin Jensen, author of Bad Dog!

"A collection of sparkling gems that translate the experiences of everyday life into a poetry that will keep resonating within long after you put the book down. As far too few books do today, it vividly demonstrates that the essence of great literature is, and always will be, the process of self-discovery."

– Eliot Pattison, author of The Skull Mantra, and Beautiful Ghosts

"Buddhist fiction? Why not? With You Are Not Here and Other Works of Buddhist Fiction, Wisdom Publications continues the groundbreaking work of defining a genre. The stories in this collection are surprising, sophisticated, various, and uplifting without naivete. A terrific and thought provoking read."

– Zoketsu Norman Fischer, author of Taking Our Places: the Buddhist Path to Truly Growing Up

"Fiction schmiction, this book is for real. With its superb collection of entertaining, thoughtful and intelligent stories, this book is sure to impress whether you're a Buddhist, interested in Buddhism or don't know a zafu from a zendo."

– Matthew Bortolin, author of The Dharma of Star Wars

Resources and Downloads

High Resolution Images