The Art of Patience

‘In The Art of Patience: Seeking the Snow Leopard in Tibet, the French writer Sylvain Tesson chronicles his rapturous journey through Tibet’s Chantang plateau with the wildlife photographer Vincent Munier. Tesson’s words, in a ravishing translation by Frank Wynne, paint pictures as vivid as any photograph.’ -- Liesl Schillinger, New York Times, 'Best Books of 2021', Travel

‘Tesson is a transcendent travel writer… [The Art of Patience] inspires action, thought, silence – and perhaps also prayer.’

-- BBC Countryfile Magazine, Best Books of 2021

‘A wonderful evocation of waiting and watching for nature.’

-- Tim Birkhead, author of Bird Sense

‘Beautifully written, beautifully translated, intensely moving and totally absorbing.’

-- Stanley Johnson, author of Where the Wild Things Were

‘The Art of Patience is extraordinarily beautiful, a narrative of prose that flows with poetry, a long last loving glance at the planet, a visit to the vital bedside of a living world determined to stay alive.’

-- Carl Safina, author of Becoming Wild: How Animals Learn to be Animals

‘I found it hard to resist… there is so much more to this elegantly written book than the story of a search. It is also a philosophical consideration of the benefits of silence, waiting and personal reflection; an ode to the psychological effect of natural beauty; and a poetic eulogy to the planet.’

-- Big Issue

‘[One of] the best books of the year.’ 

* Financial Times on Consolations of the Forest *

‘I thought I’d rip through this book. But it’s not something you want to read fast. Tesson, who I came to like more and more, is trying to rearrange his relationship with time. Being alone, miles from anywhere, encourages him to sit still and watch things.’

* Spectator on Consolations of the Forest *

‘He comes across as the brainiest, daftest, sternest, funniest, most companionable hermit you'll ever meet.’

* Guardian on Consolations of the Forest *