In his photobook memoir The Hill of the Skull, Jeremy Bassetti takes us on a spellbinding pilgrimage to a holy mountain in the heart of the Bolivian Andes.
The book features a 7,000 word hybrid memoir, 50 black-and-white photographs, an afterword by celebrated writer Pico Iyer, and a behind-the-scenes dialogue between the author and the award-winning photographer Alys Tomlinson about photography, writing, and craft.
Advance Praise for The Hill of the Skull
“A perfectly self-contained and beautifully written travel book in miniature; in The Hill of the Skull, Jeremy Bassetti turns the lens both outwards and inwards, capturing the voices, the stories of those he meets along the way with sensitivity and respect, and also revealing the vulnerable, uncertain figure of the traveler himself.”
— Tim Hannigan, author of The Travel Writing Tribe and The Granite Kingdom
“In the best tradition of travel writing, The Hill of the Skull is a journey into landscapes both outer and inner — beautifully vivid and succinct. It hits a perfect note.”
— Nick Hunt, author of Red Smoking Mirror and Outlandish
“An evocative account of a visit to a sacred mountain in the Bolivian Andes – a part of the world that is often overlooked – The Hill of the Skull is written with honesty and awareness, sensitivity and flair. As he illuminates the rituals, beliefs, fears and hopes swirling around the festival of the Virgin of Urkupiña, author Jeremy Bassetti deftly weaves in personal details, while centering the pilgrims and shamans, costume designers and caretakers he meets. Illustrated by beautiful photography, it is a meditative and powerful piece of travel writing.”
— Shafik Meghji, author of Crossed off the Map: Travels in Bolivia
“A wonderfully appealing tale, thanks to a narrator blessed with humility, a generosity of spirit and impressive powers of observation trained on ritual, the esoteric and the human condition.”
— Jini Reddy, author of Wanderland: A Search for Magic in the Landscape
“Clear, dispassionate and honest but with his senses wide open to catch the fleeting magic of our world.”
— Barnaby Rogerson, publisher Eland Books
“Jeremy Bassetti’s fascination with the Hill of the Skull is our good fortune, for he brings to it knowledge, compassion, and a keen eye for detail. Plus, through his thoughtful attentiveness, he reveals the universal inside the unfamiliar.”
— Thomas Swick, author of The Joys of Travel
“Jeremy Bassetti has imbued the ancient idea of pilgrimage with a thrilling modern interiority, restoring to travel a sense of wonder and awe that the sameness and rapacity of tourism too often leaves us bereft of.”
— Aatish Taseer, author of The Twice Born
