SKU: 20308976081

The Subtle Body: The Story of Yoga in America

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The Subtle Body: The Story of Yoga in AmericaIn The Subtle Body, Stefanie Syman tells the surprising story of yoga's transformation from a centuries old spiritual discipline to a multibillion dollar American industry. Yoga's history in America is longer and richer than even its most devoted practitioners realize. It was present in Emerson's New England, and by the turn of the twentieth century it was fashionable among the leisure class. And yet when Americans first learned about yoga, what they

In The Subtle Body, Stefanie Syman tells the surprising story of yoga's transformation from a centuries-old spiritual discipline to a multibillion-dollar American industry.

Yoga's history in America is longer and richer than even its most devoted practitioners realize. It was present in Emerson's New England, and by the turn of the twentieth century it was fashionable among the leisure class. And yet when Americans first learned about yoga, what they learned was that it was a dangerous, alien practice that would corrupt body and soul.

A century later, you can find yoga in gyms, malls, and even hospitals, and the arrival of a yoga studio in a neighborhood is a signal of cosmopolitanism. How did it happen? It did so, Stefanie Syman explains, through a succession of charismatic yoga teachers, who risked charges of charlatanism as they promoted yoga in America, and through generations of yoga students, who were deemed unbalanced or even insane for their efforts. The Subtle Body tells the stories of these people, including Henry David Thoreau, Pierre A. Bernard, Margaret Woodrow Wilson, Christopher Isherwood, Sally Kempton, and Indra Devi.

From New England, the book moves to New York City and its new suburbs between the wars, to colonial India, to postwar Los Angeles, to Haight-Ashbury in its heyday, and back to New York City post-9/11. In vivid chapters, it takes in celebrities from Gloria Swanson and George Harrison to Christy Turlington and Madonna. And it offers a fresh view of American society, showing how a seemingly arcane and foreign practice is as deeply rooted here as baseball or ballet.

This epic account of yoga's rise is absorbing and often inspiring--a major contribution to our understanding of our society.



Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Farrar Strauss & Giroux-3pl
Published: 05/24/2011
ISBN: 9780374532840
Pages: 390
Weight: 1.20lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 1.10d

Review Citations: New York Times Book Review 06/05/2011 pg. 52
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SKU: 20308976081

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Victor Vögel
Lexington, US
★★★★★ 5
Mesmerizing; shows the butterfly effect in action
Format: Paperback
Charles Mann’s “1493” is about globalization and the Homogenocene epoch. Unlike the plenitude of other recent books about globalization, however, “1493” is about biological globalization rather than economic globalization. The book traces the results of the Columbian Exchange, with chapters devoted to tobacco, the earthworm, malaria, silver, potatoes and sweet potatoes, guano and rubber. The book is in four parts, and is written in an accessible, non-academic style. I found the first three parts of the book, which cover the impact of the Columbian Exchange on the Atlantic, the Pacific and Europe, respectively, to be captivating. These parts of the book demonstrated the fascinating interconnectedness of all things in a globalized society (in other words the “butterfly effect”) – for example, how transporting the sweet potato to Western China led to population migrations from Eastern to Western China, deforestation and overflowing of the Yellow River. The general result of such biological globalization is the creation of the Homogenocene epoch, a term which Mann uses to describe the biological homogenization that has replaced biological diversity since the time of Columbus. In the first three parts of the book, Mann demonstrates how history, biology and chemistry are all interrelated, and how today’s world continues to be influenced by the Columbian Exchange. I found the last part of the book to be less impressive than the first three parts. Part Four is called “Africa in the World,” but confusingly it is about South America, not Africa. Parts of it read more like travel writing than history. Still, the book deserves five stars for the first three thrilling parts, which successfully trace the mesmerizing history of various everyday biological substances.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2017
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Jamie Barnett
Chelsea, US
★★★★★ 3
There were periods I was on the edge of my seat. There were times I just wanted to the book to end.
Format: Paperback
I recently started reading at 40 years old to make up for a lot of wasted time and missed education. This is a very informative read, but that said, I had a hard time staying focused sometimes. He gets into a lot of the science pertaining to plagues, epidemics etc which is interesting and I am reluctant to list science as a con as I did learn, but frequently found myself scrolling through several pages just to get the main idea behind the historical part. There were periods that I was on the edge of my seat and there were times I just wanted to the book to end. 1491 was similar. Both useful books, but a bit challenging to follow along especially if you are only reading small amounts at at time like on break at work etc. It jumps around from S. America, N America and China all through the book. I would have preferred that each region be separated. I get that he had his reasons. I am glad I read both books, but I probably should have gone with more of an overview vs the more in-depth content in this. I do not regret reading both books however, and recommend if you already have a good knowledge of this subject and are just trying to learn a little more. I found the information about the slave trade, the most interesting and wasn't aware that the majority of slaves shipped over from Africa went to Mesoamerica and the Caribbean. I also did not realize that plague and sickness really enabled use of African slaves as they were not prone to malaria like the Europeans. There is also some good info about ancient China and also sliver and mercury mining with South American Indians which made the book worth it for me.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2023
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R. D. Morris
Bozeman, US
★★★★★ 4
If you liked 1491, you'll like 1493
Format: Hardcover
I originally read the first edition of 1491, which I loved. So that's why I ordered 1493. At about the same time 1493 arrived, I found out there was a new, revised version of 1491, which my husband bought from another source. So I re-read it at the same time I read 1493 for the first time. The reason I mention this is that there are some similarities between the revised version of 1491 and the newer book, 1493 - actually some repeated material. That's ok, as the author is taking the premise of 1491 another step further. Essentially, 1491 focuses on what new studies show was really going on in the Western Hemisphere before Columbus' arrival, where native peoples were far more numerous and had more advanced cultures than Europeans previously thought possible. In 1493, Charles Mann shows not only how Columbus and Europeans changed the New World, but how the "Columbian exchange" wrought great changes in the other direction as well. And he pulls in the further exchanges with Asia, to show the trans-global linkages of the phenomenon. So, some of his exposition gets a little repetitious, but overall he's an engaging writer, and for those of us who love the history of cultural exchanges and first contact, these books are mandatory reading!
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Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2011
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Ian T
Charlottesville, US
★★★★★ 5
Truly worth every penny. DS2r?
Format: Hardcover
Truly incredible documentation of the thoughtful work of a handful of artists. I'm hoping that by supporting this book we may inch ourselves closer to a Dead Space 2 remake lead by Motive studio. This book is a must for fans or the game and horror in general. Well made, good quality images, lore drops, developer letters. Its fantastic!
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Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2025
A
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Amazon Customer
New York, US
★★★★★ 5
Nice art
Format: Hardcover
The art is good and I love the comparisons to the og
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2025

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