"For anyone about to visit the place, [Elizabeth Pisani’s] book is an essential companion."
"As close as we may come to a feet-on-the-street, impassioned and amusing understanding of the fourth-largest-populated country in the world."
Shelf Awareness - Bruce Jacobs
"One of the year’s most engrossing and edifying travelogues… Pisani’s book will stir up wonder and wanderlust in even the most experienced travelers."
"A rollicking good adventure…To read Indonesia Etc. is to grow rather fond of both author and country."
Los Angeles Review of Books - Pallavi Aiyar
"Fills a much-needed gap on literature about Indonesia…an intimate portrait."
Christian Science Monitor - Lydia Tomkiw
"It's hard to imagine the energy, tenacity and intimate background knowledge needed to write this book. Luckily, Elizabeth Pisani has these qualities in droves. Read it, even if you don't think you're interested in Indonesia—it’s inspiring on so many levels, from the boundless curiosity and warmth of the author to the country’s spectacular miracle of geo-political confidence and experimentation."
"Exuberant and wise… Pisani is an exceptionally resourceful observer of the ongoing battle to define Indonesia."
The New Yorker - Pankj Mishra
"Pisani not only travels a dizzying amalgam of the 13,500 islands that comprise Indonesia, but she also follows their history from the seventh century forward with fluidity and ease. There are few other books—or authors—to attempt such a daunting task."
"Beautifully written, richly entertaining."
"Intrepid and passionate, Elizabeth Pisani takes readers on board a hilarious series of jury-rigged forms of transportation, from bustling, insane Djakarta to the smallest and remotest islands and country villages of Indonesia. By the end, exhausted, dusty, thirsty, and laughing, we feel we know this idiosyncratic country in all its moving complexity. Profound, lasting, a masterpiece of its genre—and so much fun!"
"This perfect chronicle not only depicts [Indonesia’s] bewildering multiplicity of languages, ethnicities, religions and political beliefs but also answers such questions as why there is no Indonesian diaspora and whether Islamic militancy poses a deep threat to the country."
"A clear-eyed and smart look at a rising Asian giant that has defied all conventional wisdom… A good read not only for those interested in Indonesia, but everyone who is thinking about how other developing countries too could rise above their internal problems to be improbable success stories."
11/01/2014 Pisani first came to Indonesia as a foreign correspondent, then later returned as an epidemiologist specializing in HIV. With over 300 ethnic groups spread across 13,500 islands, Indonesia is the world's fourth most populated nation. Visiting jungles and small villages, the author profiles many people during her travels. Readers will learn that Jakarta tweets more than any other city on Earth and that 80 million people there live without electricity. (LJ 8/14)
2014-04-08 An elucidating journey through the myriad-island republic.Journalist and epidemiologist Pisani (The Wisdom of Whores: Bureaucrats, Brothels and the Business of AIDS, 2008) took a year to trek among the archipelago nation she grew to admire more than 20 years before, when she posted there as a reporter for Reuters news agency. Branching out from the dominant island of Java, home to 60 percent of all Indonesians, and its modern capital of Jakarta, the author found among numerous smaller and less visited islands—as there are nearly 13,500 islands containing over 360 ethnic groups, by her estimate, she could only visit a fraction—a richness and diversity. She discovered much that was "friendly" but "schizophrenic," "shambolic" and "unpredictable," a vying for modernity and traditional values with plenty of elements still being figured out. Declared independent in 1945, after the defeat of the Japanese occupiers, and before that, the deeply resented Dutch, whose merchants had exploited for centuries the rich spices (cloves, nutmeg) and pearls along the archipelago, Indonesia is a nation cobbled together by the long tradition of trading, by the lingua franca of Malay, and by the astute charisma and nationalist philosophy of its founding leader, Sukarno. As a woman traveling solo, Pisani encountered some frustrating questions from villagers—e.g., why she didn't have children—but she was usually embraced by the familial hospitality of the people she met. She unearths interesting material about the surprising, delightful and frequently bewildering spectacle of adat—a prideful tradition—which encompasses obligations, spirituality and poverty. Speaking the language and living among the villagers helped Pisani navigate this delicate system of barter and honor. She finds Indonesia gaining democratic agency after a troubling history of authoritarianism, separatist movements, the tsunami of 2004, a mismanagement of natural resources and an urgently needed bolstering of the education system.A brave, lively writer opens up a wondrous, changing nation.