# A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants

Canonical: https://www.bookquiver.com/jaed-coffin/a-chant-to-soothe-wild-elephants/9780306815263

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- Book: [A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants](https://www.bookquiver.com/jaed-coffin/a-chant-to-soothe-wild-elephants) ([A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants.md](https://www.bookquiver.com/jaed-coffin/a-chant-to-soothe-wild-elephants.md))
- Authors: [Jaed Coffin](https://www.bookquiver.com/jaed-coffin)
- Publisher: da_capo_press
- ISBN: 978-03-0681-526-3
- Pages: 1
- Published: 2008-01-08
- Language: en_GB
- Binding: Softcover

## Description

Six years ago at the age of twenty-one, Jaed Muncharoen Coffin, a half-Thai American man, left New England's privileged Middlebury College to be ordained as a Buddhist monk in his mother's native village of Panomsarakram- thus fulfilling a familial obligation. While addressing the notions of displacement, ethnic identity, and cultural belonging, A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants chronicles his time at the temple that rain season- receiving alms in the streets in saffron robes bathing in the canals learning to meditate in a mountaintop hut and falling in love with Lek, a beautiful Thai woman who comes to represent the life he can have if he stays. Part armchair travel, part coming-of-age story, this debut work transcends the memoir genre and ushers in a brave new voice in American nonfiction.