Thanks to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for this free ARC in return for my honest review.

What a fascinating book. Author Eliot Stein takes us all over the globe as he introduces us to some of the soon to be lost traditions and culture in world today. His trip around the world takes us to Italy, Germany, Taiwan, Peru, Japan, the UK, Scandinavia, Ghana, India and Cuba. He writes about the people who are keeping centuries old traditions alive and who are one of the very last people doing this work. Along the way we meet a cigar factory reader, a pasta maker, an oral history teller, a night watchman, a bee talker and many more. He infuses each chapter with historical and cultural details and blends into the story of those last people who are keeping these traditions alive, and what we will happen if nobody else steps in to master these traditions. Easy to read since each person/country/tradition has its own chapter, it is a book that makes us ponder the value of culture and tradition, as we move further into our sterile and globalized world! 4.5**** for me!!

I underestimated this book.
I choose it on net galley because of the cover and description when I saw it was a read now option.
I open the book on New Year’s Day wanting to expand my knowledge, thinking it would be a simple “this wonderful thing is here, and these wonderful people help”.

What I got was history and geography of the place, relevance to culture, with a view towards the future, cultural anthropology and sociology. Excellent read.

This is a really informative and almost magical book. The stories read more like fiction than non and you're learning history and culture at the same time. I googled a lot of the information so I could see the items or arts, too. The way the author portrays these artisans makes them seem almost otherworldly, which is where the magic feeling comes in. It is simply amazing that these tiny but important bits of the world exist and are in danger of going away. A very insightful look into cultures other than my own..

This was a great book for those who love to learn more about history and the knowledge of things that have been collected throughout time. It was interesting to learn more about how traditions have been kept by people throughout the world and are continuing to keep them alive.

What an incredible journey! I loved that you could feel the care and intention in each story and I feel like I learned so much. This was a wonderfully written and paced book that inspires.

This is a well written and well researched non-fiction book about a few people in the world trying to hold onto their heritage and way of life before it disappears forever. My absolute favorite stories were about the beekeepers, the tree of love in Germany, and the soy sauce production in Japan.

I highly recommend this book to everyone especially people who like books that teach you something about the world we live in and to broaden your reading life.

**Thsnks to the author and publisher for the e-arc I received in exchange for my honest review.**

I enjoyed reading about the author’s fascinating studies of rare methods, practices, and customs all around the world. The author spends several days or longer with each location or group, fully immersed in the culture. He eats, sleeps, and when invited, attempts to practice some cultural customs of these local practitioners of special craftsmanship. Authenticity and respect for the people involved in preserving these lifeways seemed to be the main goals of the author, aside from clear and simple descriptions of the methods, equipment, and results he observed.
Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the advance review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Custodians of Wonder is a fascinating look at the living ancient cultural traditions and the last practitioners/guardians of that knowledge curated and collected by Eliot Stein. Released 10th Dec 2024 by Macmillan on their St. Martin's Press imprint, it's 336 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.

This is a collection of disparate traditions and crafts from different cultures with the common thread that the practices are under threat or actively being lost to the ravages of modern life. There are 10 chapters, each covering a different cultural art and the artisan(s) who are keeping it alive. They range from hand painted film posters in Taiwan to the last engineers maintaining the astounding ancient Incan roads, to living repositories of oral tradition in Africa.

The author has an engaging and respectful voice and brings these disparate cultural traditions to life. The book is well annotated throughout and the chapter notes and bibliography alone are probably worth the cost of the book.

Five stars. Very interesting stories. Written like mini travel documentaries, this would also make a superlative series for BBC or NatGeo or the like. The book would be an excellent choice for public or school library acquisition, home use, or for gift-giving purposes for a nonfiction / culture fan.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

I requested this for consideration for Book Riot's All the Books podcast for its release date. After sampling several books out this week, I decided to go with a different book for my review.

Featured this title in the major annual holiday gift books editorial package I put together for The Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper

Through interviews, anecdotes, and historical context, this book shares a series of dying traditions in various parts of the world: making a specific type of Sardinian pasta, serving as a country's last night watchman, etc. Some of these examples are more interesting than others, but they're all told with great sensitivity and respect. The author does a fine job of weaving any necessary historical background into each chapter, although sometimes this involves biting off just a bit more than any book of this nature could reasonably be expected to chew (e.g., tackling an overview of Cuban revolutionary history). I particularly enjoyed the chapter about an English beekeeper "telling the bees." Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

As Eliot Stein points out at the beginning of Custodians of Wonder, one of the effects of globalization is the loss of the individual crafts and small cultural differences that define groups. He has set out in this book to look at age old rites from a soy sauce recipe to the construction of a bridge in Peru that define what makes the world a fascinating place. He lends an appreciation to why it is important to retain ancient crafts and cultural secrets from disappearing into what are the downsides of the immediacy of information that has caused so much of the world to look the same. This is a fascinating book that will appeal to travelers and arm chair travelers alike.

The author here works for BBC Travel, and had covered all these stories for his job as a journalist. I had not read any of them before, though, and was riveted. The stories take us all over the globe – with visits to Africa, Japan, Italy, Germany, Peru and more.

The intro talks a bit about how globalization brings interest in other places – but also erodes some of our localized traditions. Then, we dive right into meeting a griot (storyteller), originally from West Africa but now living in Massachusetts.

Each chapter brings us the story of a tradition, as well as the last (sometimes last one, sometimes last few) people keeping the tradition alive. With some of these, the tradition is a job – like the griot, a night watchman, a mailman, or a lector who reads aloud to factory workers all day while they work.

With many, the tradition is a product or item… although, making that particular item could be the person’s job as well, whether that is their official day job or not. We learn about the world’s rarest pasta (yum!) and the real, traditional way to make soy sauce. We meet several families who make mirrors unlike the ones that hang on most of our walls. We meet people making a bridge out of braided grass, and a man painting giant posters of movie stars.

One of the traditions is simply that – a tradition. Home beekeepers in England – and some in certain areas of the U.S. – have to keep their bees informed of any important news, or they will have bad luck.

Each of these worlds are so different, and I truly felt like I’d been around the world and back reading this book. I enjoyed the personal stories, but also the histories of these traditions and the geographical places that created them.

If you love travel, history, or creative pursuits of any stripe (storytelling, cooking, painting), I think this book would be a delightful addition to your shelf.

Courtesy of St. Martin's Press and Netgalley, I received the ARC of Custodians of Wonder by Eliot Stein. This non fiction book was an amazing travelogue! By introducing ten people throughout the world who are preserving their culture, the last of generations with their knowledge and expertise, Stein collected and recorded these legacies. Such an admirable achievement! I was transfixed with this beautifully written narrative!

Custodians of Wonder is, well, a wonderful book. Warm, charming, informative, moving at times, Eliot Stein’s collection of essays that “explores ten of the world’s rarest and most dazzling cultural marvels on the edge of disappearance” is an excellent read and highly recommended. As with nearly any collection, some segments will be stronger than others, but as Stein takes the reader on a tour of the world to meet people who are the last of their kind in terms of their skills/occupation, the strengths greatly outweigh the few weaker parts.

Among the ten people we meet are:
• Balla Kouyate, a balafon player whose family has, for twenty-seven unbroken generations, passed down the tradition of balafon music in combination with the oral history tradition of Mali in their role as djeli (griots in English) — “equal parts historians, praise singers, and ambassadors of the kings and communities they serve.” One aspect of their role is custodianship of the 800-year-old original balafon, the Sosso-Bala.
• Roland Borg: Perhaps the world’s last employed night watchmen, who stands sentinel over the Swedish city of Ystad, as his father did and as his father’s father did.
• Victoria Arizapana: the last person who knows how to rebuild the only surviving Inca rope suspension bridge, the Q’eswachaka, a task that must be done every year and that involves not just Arizapana but over a thousand people from the surrounding community
• Paola Abraini: a nearly 70-year-old Sardinian woman who rises at 7 am every day to make su filindeu, “the rarest pasta in the world”, so called because only three people in the world — Abraini and her two nieces — know how to prepare it.
• Han Jhen-fa, last of Taiwan’s (and one of the last in the world) artist of hand-painted movie posters, a job he has toiled at for over half a century.
• Yasuo Yamamoto: a man who is almost single-handedly trying to keep alive the traditional way of making soy sauce (shoyu), a cooking staple whose taste has been industrialized and commoditized to the point where its full richness and variety of taste has all but disappeared

Each of the essays is a mix of a character sketch, a detailed accounting of the particular skill, historical context, and memoir, as Elliot adds in his own experiences, whether it’s his reaction to the bone-jarring drive to the home of the Sosso-Bala or a more personal reminiscence of how a particular moment in his investigation echoes something from his own past life. The portraits of the subjects are richly vivid and deeply respectful, portraying them as real people in the full context of their lives and families and cultural traditions rather than simply as quirks of society, little oddities to be entertained by. You feel deeply their sense of sorrow over the passing of their skills from this world, their sense of pride in what they do, the urgency for instance of Yamamoto, trying frantically to stave off the taste-crushing press of food industrialization, the joy of a German postman who for decades delivered letters to a singles-matching tree (yes, tree) and who found his own love through the influence of the “Bridesgroom’s Oak”.

Eliot, in addition to the vivid individual portrayals, also offers up sharply precise cultural/social tidbits, such as how in Mali, one eats with your hands as is the case in a lot of places, but “unlike Southeast Asia, where you guide the food into your mouth with the thumb, Malians pack each bite into a ball with the tips of their fingers, and genders scoop from different bowls.” Eliot’s keen eye for such tiny details goes a long way toward immersing the reader in both people and place.

The history is often fascinating and well-balanced with the more personal and topic story at the core of each essay. Readers will learn of the power and wealth of the Mali Empire, follow the amazing achievements of the Incas, whose road system in many ways was more impressive than the fabled Roman one, get a lesson in the evolution of the earliest police forces, discover how Sardinia was able to repel the Romans when so many other places succumbed, get a quick history of mirror making and of the creation of Taiwan as an independent nation as well as the development of its film industry, learn the intricacies of social bees honey-finding skills and reproduction, and more. All of it is concisely conveyed, unfailingly interesting, and integrated smoothly into the stories.

As noted, the segments vary a bit in impact, but that will probably be a more subjective response. I found for instance, that the section on “telling the bees” (beekeepers speaking to their bees of important events such as deaths or births), while somewhat interesting in its own right, felt a bit out of place and more diffuse than the other essays. And the section on the Indian family that makes a mirror that shows one’s “true self”, again, while interesting enough in the mirror-making aspect, seemed a bit shoehorned in and wasn’t helped by the weak nature of its central conceit of the mirrors uniquely showing your “real” self. But as noted, if they were “weaker”, they were still engaging and interesting. Meanwhile, the others were simply fantastic, and I’d be hard pressed to choose a favorite amongst them, though I might lean towards the balafon player. Or the poster artist. Possibly the Inca bridge builder. Or the night watchman. Did I mention I would find it difficult to pick a favorite? My guess is that will hold true for just about any reader. Highly recommended.

A series of long-form articles that takes you around the world to chronical the people involved in keeping alive cultural traditions/practices/arts. I loved that he combined the current practice with the history of how it developed, and how it became so rare. My intent was always to read one chapter at a time, but as soon as I'd finished one, I'd race ahead to start the next one because I was so interested in learning about the next thing. I read one chapter aloud to my 8 year old and she was equally fascinated. This is a great book for any non-fiction lover, anyone with a New Yorker subscription, or anyone with a curiosity about other cultures. One of my favorites of the year!

For centuries, traditions have been passed from one generation to the next all over the world, but what happens when those traditions are understood and carried on by only a handful of people?

Custodians of Wonder is a nonfiction book that chronicles ten diminishing cultural touchstones. The trouble is that in each case, there are very few people left who are capable and/or willing to preserve that tradition. I found the customs described in this book to be fascinating and I appreciated the respect the author showed and context provided in each case. I was particularly intrigued by the sections about su filindeau pasta, telling the bees, Cuban cigar factory lectors, and Japanese kioke barrels.

Thank you St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read and review Custodians of Wonder Ancient Customs, Profound Traditions, and the Last People Keeping Them Alive by Eliot Stein on NetGalley.

Published: 12/10/24

Stars: 4

Smart book on unique practices and things around the world. This is a book that a Jeopardy Contestant has read and remembered the details.

I found the Custodians interesting in their own rights. I found some of Stein's history overwhelming. This is not a novel or trivia book, it is thorough and leaves nothing to question overall. We know what happens if the traditions are not carried on.

I would recommend this as a retirement gift. .

This is such a unique book-- I learned so much about so many cultures along the way, and it felt hopeful to remember that while so much in the world is disappearing or being marred, there are people preserving beautiful things. It got a bit slow at times, but I just read it in small doses. I don't read much nonfiction, but really enjoyed this and will be recommending as an unusual book club choice. Thanks very much to Netgalley for the ARC.

This is one of those books that I instantly thought would make a great gift, especially for the dads and grandpas who are life-long learners on your list. I happen to love grandpa type reading, so this one was right up my alley.

Custodians of Wonder looks in-depth at ten different rare traditions being kept alive by one or only few people in the world. We learn about the last night watchman in a Swedish town who climbs fourteen stories into his chilly tower lookout every night, blowing a long copper horn to signal that all is well every fifteen minutes. We visit a man living on the Japanese island of Shõdoshima, preserving heritage methods of brewing authentic soy sauce in wooden barrels, taking four years from start to completion. In a small town along the Welsh border we meet a woman who carries on the tradition of telling important news to the bees she keeps. A few women in Sardinia continue the labor-intensive practice of making the rarest pasta in the world, using a method that takes around six years to perfect.

Each chapter also includes fascinating historical context around the practices, what makes them significant and how they came to be. I learned so much about the history of Cuba while reading of the lectors, the few remaining people who read literature each day out loud to the cigar factory workers. The history of Taiwan is detailed while we learn about the last film poster painter there. The stories and education are all woven together so well.

I absolutely loved this book, and wish I could see it as a documentary series!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for this book!