Tuesday, December 23, 2008

#49 - The Book of Tea

102 years old, reprinted countless times by as many publishers The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura is a masterpiece. After the unremarkable time with the Japanese gift box set I had to cleanse my palate with the real deal. This is a book I have owned for over 10 years and have read and re-read often. It is almost equal parts history, philosophy, and tea ceremony. It delves into Taoism, Zen, Teaism, culture, art, and tea and in quite short order... many copies are 80 pages or less. It is centered around Japan and Japanese tea so it is not a great general information resource on tea, but what it does do it does better than any other book out there, which is why it continues to be reprinted 102 years on. Highly Recommended.

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