Goenawan Mohamad is one of Indonesia's foremost literacy figures and public intellectuals, and this translated volume of essays, from 1968 to 2014, demonstrates the breadth of his perceptive and elegant commentary on literature, faith, mythology, politics, history and Indonesian life.

With almost 100 short essays, most taken from his popular columns in Tempo, the Indonesian-language news weekly, In Other Words shows a writer commited to Indonesia but grappling with universal themes and struggles, offering a fascinating insight into questions that concern us all.