Bestselling author Eric Madeen has announced that his travel book, 'Asian Trail Mix: True Tales From Borneo To Japan', will be available at no charge in ebook form on October 3 and 4, 2026, at Amazon. The promotion provides readers with free access to a collection that scales down the sprawl of Asia by focusing on the unique and revelatory in gemmy prose. The ebook can be obtained through Madeen's Amazon author page at https://www.amazon.com/stores/Eric-Madeen/author/B08VGRNJVW.
'Asian Trail Mix' offers up-close and personal encounters with the razzmatazz of novice monks at play in northern Laos, the bonding with hustling pedicab drivers in Ho Chi Minh City, the rainforests blazed on gutsy treks across Borneo and Thailand's Elephant Island, and novel things Japanese. Served up nice and spicy, the book is slathered across 12 rocking-it essays plus a tall tale at its glorious ending, making for a baker's dozen of sumptuousness.
Reviews highlight the book's immersive quality. One reader said, "The writing is lush and emotive. It contains images and turns of phrase that will stay with you." Another remarked, "Mr. Madeen has a knack for taking one into the depths of a country and introducing the reader to fascinating customs and interesting characters. Five stars!" A third noted, "The author has a discerning eye for subjects of local interest at each of the intervening destinations, and truly commendable is how he's able to draw out characters, getting their riveting stories while sketching remarkable details on the Asian trail. Eric Madeen, an American based in Japan, is clearly fueled with high-energy. It's a rush to keep up with him, both on and off trail, either way transcribed in a voice that's more than a language function but the sum totality of this writer's experiences and means of expression. Madeen has been there and proof is in his prose."
The free ebook promotion is significant for readers interested in travel literature and Asian cultures, as it removes cost barriers to a bestselling work. It also underscores the growing trend of digital promotions in the publishing industry, where limited-time free offers can attract new audiences and boost visibility. For Madeen, this move may expand his readership and generate interest in his other books, which include 'Water Drumming In The Soul,' 'Tokyo-ing!,' 'Tennis Clubbed, Snubbed and Rubbity-Dub Dubbed,' and 'Massage World.' More information about the author and his works is available at https://ericmadeen.org/.
Madeen is an associate professor of modern literature at Tokyo City University and an adjunct professor at Keio University. He is an award-winning author of six books, and his writing has been published widely in outlets such as Time, Asia Week, The East, Daily Yomiuri, Tokyo Journal, Kyoto Journal, Metropolis, Mississippi Review, ANA's inflight magazine Wingspan, Peace Corps Worldwide, Japanophile, Yomimono, The Pretentious Idea, Tombstone Epitaph, several anthologies, and academic journals. He has been featured in numerous radio interviews and print media. He once worked as a copywriter for Dentsu, the then-world's largest ad agency, for clients including Mazda, Subaru, Canon, Konica, Nikko Hotels International, and Sony. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in Francophone Gabon, Africa, where he built a primary school complex in an equatorial village surrounded by rainforest, an experience that inspired his first book.
