A Fortune-Teller Told Me: Earthbound Travels in the Far East

By Tiziano Terzani

Warned by a fortune-teller not to risk flying, the author – a seasoned correspondent – took to travelling by rail, road and sea. Consulting fortune-tellers and shamans wherever he went, he learnt to understand and respect older ways of life and beliefs now threatened by the crasser forms of Western modernity.

William Shawcross in the Literary Review praised Terzani for ‘his beautifully written adventure story… a voyage of self-discovery… He sees fortune-tellers, soothsayers, astrologers, chiromancers, seers, shamans, magicians, palmists, frauds, men and women of god (many gods) all over Asia and in Europe too… Almost every page and every story celebrates the mystical and the unknowable. It is a fabulous story of renewal and change… Terzani is already something of a legend. He has written magnificently all his life. Never better than now.’

Yes, the fortune-teller did save him from an air-crash in Cambodia. Looking back afterwards, Terzani reckoned that ‘I was marked for death and instead I was reborn.’

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Mar 8, 2012
• ISBN: 9780007378401

Reviews for A Fortune-Teller Told Me

[untraveller · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

interesting book with strange assumptions about the west....and the east. Still interesting, worth reading, and enjoyable.

[Jack Colombi · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Tiziano Terzani was one of the greatest journalists of the 20th century. This book is a must-read for everyone interested in Asia and in travelling "for real".

[varielle_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The late Italian journalist Tiziano Terzani covered southern and South-Eastern Asia through the horrors of Vietnam, Pol Pot, and all the other debacles. In response to a fortune-teller’s warning he decided not to fly for a year and only travelled by surface means. In this memoir he pursues spirituality, culture, politics, and never fails to uncover interesting characters who provide enlightenment about life and events not widely understood in the west. His excellent insight was a real eye opener.

[stuartechambers · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I found this book quite by chance in Heathrow airport and that in itself is apt. How good it would it be if we could all spend at least a year of our lives traveling only by land or sea? Forgive me for saying this but British ‘idiots’, like their American counterparts have sucked all joy out of air travel in their relentless pursuit of higher margins and lower fares and ‘secure’ airports, these days it’s all self-check-in and paying extortionate amounts for your excess baggage, it’s faceless, corporate and incredibly unfriendly. Journalist Tiziano Terzani was told by a fortune teller that he most definitely should not travel by air for a year and he took the advice to heart and spent a year traveling by land, train, cab, bus, steamer, elephant, or cruise ship. As such this is a wonderful book that captures the real rhythm of each Asian country, the smells, the soul, the heart and most of all the warmth of the people. I thought the fact that Terzani goes in search of a local ‘fortune-teller’ in each country he visits would become repetitive but it really didn’t. Well done!

[jcambridge_4 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is one of the best travel books I've read and I've read a lot!! I think most readers (whether they travel internationally or not) will find this to be an informative and enjoyable read.

[benjaminorbach · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of my favorite books. A fantastic read - I savored it as I backpacked through Cambodia and Vietnam.