David Chadwick, a Texas-raised wanderer, college dropout, bumbling social activist, and hobbyhorse musician, began his study under Shunryu Suzuki Roshi in 1966. In 1988 Chadwick flew to Japan to begin a four-year period of voluntary exile and remedial Zen education. In Thank You and OK he recounts his experiences both inside and beyond the monastery walls and offers insightful portraits of the characters he knew in that world--the bickering monks, the patient abbot, the trotting housewives, the ominous insects, the bewildered bureaucrats, and the frustrating English-language students--as they worked inexorably toward initiating him into the mysterious ways of Japan. Whether you're interested in Japan, Buddhism, or exotic travel writing, this book is great fun.

To learn more about the author, David Chadwick, visit www.cuke.com.

David Chadwick began his Zen study under the legendary Japanese master Shunryu Suzuki Roshi in 1966. Much later, Suzuki Roshi’ s successor said of Chadwick: “ Years of expensive Zen training gone to waste.”

In 1988 Chadwick flew to Japan to begin a four-year period of voluntary exile and remedial education. In Thank You and Okay he recounts his experiences both inside and outside the monastery and offers insightful portraits of the characters he encountered— the bickering monks, the patient abbot, the ominous insects, the bewildered bureaucrats, and his idiosyncratic fellow students— as they worked inexorably toward initiating him into the mysterious ways of Japan. No one interested in Zen Buddhism, Japan, or the workings of human nature will soon forget Chadwick’ s tale.

In this irresistibly funny cult-classic-in-the-making, David Chadwick recounts his offbeat experiences inside and beyond Zen Buddhist monasteries in Japan. Sketching insightful portraits of bickering monks, bewildered bureacrats, and others he met along the way, Chadwick presents an unforgettable look at Buddhism, Japan, and human nature.