Patterson of Tibet: Death throes of a nation by George N Patterson (1998-05-04)

I borrowed this book from some relatives and thoroughly enjoyed it. But when I tried to buy a copy for myself, I found it to be out of print. Given George Patterson's scathing criticism of all sorts of vested interestes and traditions in his autobiography, a reader could easily come up with conspiracy theories about why certain interests would want the book to stay out of print. Patterson's dramatic encounter with God--he hears God speaking to him--might even make some Christians uncomfortable. Indeed, he criticises everything from the US government to British, Indian, and Chinese governments to drug cartels and entrenched medical monopolies, and traditional churches. Yet his passion for the freedom of Tibet, for helping the poor, for finding a cure to drug addictions, and his unflinching rebuke of wrongdoing even in his own life, give the reader a refreshing view of the world. Unlike so many in our world who only criticise and never offer solutions, Patterson shares the solution that has found him--God. Patterson's globe-trotting, century-spanning narrative that reaches from poverty to stardom and includes ample references and citations from the canon of western literature reminds me of another favorite author--Salman Rushdie. However, unlike Rushdie's work, Patterson's is a true story. When life supersedes art in beauty, adventure, and meaning, I must but cry. I ask whomever has the right to publish this book: Please print it, so we can read it.