Now back in print, here is novelist Peter Matthiessen's account of his journey deep into the heart of American and Japanese Zen. Writing in the same format as his bestselling book THE SNOW LEOPARD, Matthiessen masterfully describes his quest for spiritual roots as he combines spiritual and historica...

Now back in print, here is novelist Peter Matthiessen's account of his journey deep into the heart of American and Japanese Zen. Writing in the same format as his bestselling book THE SNOW LEOPARD, Matthiessen masterfully describes his quest for spiritual roots as he combines spiritual and historical narrative with lyrical glimpses of the natural world.

In August 1968, naturalist-explorer Peter Matthiessen returned from Africa to his home in Sagaponack, Long Island, to find three Zen masters in his driveway--guests of his wife, a new student of Zen. Thirteen years later, Matthiessen was ordained a Buddhist monk. Written in the same format as his best-selling * The Snow Leopard,* Nine-Headed Dragon River reveals Matthiessen's most daring adventure of all: the quest for his spiritual roots.