Travel writer Tim Brookes is in Shelburne next week to talk about his latest travels documented in his book, "Thirty Percent Chance of Enlightenment." The book talk and signing is at the Pierson Library on Thursday, April 22 at 6:30 p.m. Brookes is the author of other well-known travel novels such as, "A Hell of a Place to Lose a Cow." Brookes also is a longtime NPR commentator, and works at Champlain College as the director of the professional writing program.
"Thirty Percent Chance of Enlightenment" is a story that follows Brookes' adventures chasing the monsoon in India. What started as a story for National Geographic magazine turns into, well, an enlightening journey. The article Brookes was slated to write about forecasting the monsoon travels into territory much deeper than the weather.
After being repeatedly thwarted and told he was banned from every single office of India's Meteorological Department, Brookes departs from his original plan and decides to interview everyone he can, except for the meteorologists. He discovers an attitude toward the rains that he was not expecting.
Before long, his journey cascades into a cross-country road trip in search of the true meaning of the monsoon - a trip that takes him through the spice villages high in the Western Ghats, to a Hindu wedding at which all the main participants end up drenched and leaves him ankle-deep in a holy river where the temple elephants bathe. He discovers the history of the umbrella, the bizarre ritual of rain-inducing donkey weddings, and for his erratic and dusty labors, he ends up rewarded with a glimpse into the spiritual nature of water.
"It's one of those journeys," Brookes says, "where you get so deeply enmeshed in the people, and the place, and the subject that you become slightly insane. You end up having insights that are either signs of genius or signs of madness. Either way, I'll never think of weather forecasting or water in the same way again."
For more information visit www.thirtypercentchance.com or Brookes' Web site www.timbrookesinc.com.