Jamie James is the author of "The Snake Charmer: A Life and Death in the Pursuit of Knowledge", "Rimbaud in Java: The Lost Voyage", and other titles. He has contributed to the "New York Times", "Wall Street Journal", "Vanity Fair", and "National Geographic Traveler", among others, and served as art critic at "The New Yorker "and "The Times of London". In 1999 he moved to Indonesia.