In 1996, Tom Bissell went to Uzbekistan as a na ve Peace Corps volunteer. Though he lasted only a few months before illness and personal crisis forced him home, Bissell found himself entranced by this remote land. Five years later he returned to explore the shrinking Aral Sea, destroyed by Soviet irrigation policies. Joining up with an exuberant translator named Rustam, Bissell slips more than once through the clutches of the Uzbek police as he makes his often wild way to the devastated sea.
In Chasing the Sea, " "Bissell combines the story of his travels with a beguiling chronicle of...

Young Americans abroad in Central Asia find themselves pushed to their limits in these acclaimed, prize-winning stories by one of our most exciting and talented new authors. Combining bleak humor, ironic insight, deep compassion, and unflinching moral and ethical inquiry, Tom Bissell gives us a gripping collection that is both timeless and profoundly relevant to today's complex world.

Now a major motion picture, The Disaster Artist, by Warner Bros. starring James Franco.

From the actor who somehow lived through it all, a "sharply detailed...funny book about a cinematic comedy of errors" (The New York Times): the making of the cult film phenomenon The Room.

In 2003, an independent film called The Room--starring and written, produced, and directed by a mysteriously wealthy social misfit named Tommy Wiseau--made its disastrous debut in Los Angeles. Described by one reviewer as "like getting stabbed in the head," the $6 million film...

The Disaster Artist is the hilarious, behind-the-scenes story of cult cinematic phenomenon The Room, as well as the tale of an odd and inspiring Hollywood friendship.