In August 1968, naturalist-explorer Peter Matthiessen returned from Africa to his home in Sagaponack, Long Island, to find three Zen masters in his driveway—guests of his wife, a new student of Zen. Thirteen years later, Matthiessen was ordained a Buddhist monk. Written in the same format as his best-selling
The Snow Leopard,
Nine-Headed Dragon River
reveals Matthiessen's most daring adventure of all: the quest for his spiritual roots.