Basho's Inward Road: A Retelling of Basho's Narrow Road to the Interior

In this sensitive and accessible retelling of Basho's "Narrow Road to the Interior," David Mazzotta gives us a personal vision of Basho as a man in crisis. Throughout his journey across the Japanese countryside the sites and souls he encounters instill a growing sense of mortality, and the trials of travel bring doubt and lamentation over lost opportunities. To fight the internal battle for his spirit he falls back on Buddhist perspective, the friendship of his affable companion Sora, a sense of humor, an appreciation of the absurd, and the discipline and distraction of constant motion to bring reconciliation with the world. Basho's Inward Road is a simple travelogue of a complex journey.