Based on the premise that the most viable form of discovery for the ethnographer is the personal essay--which has been called "the expression of the self thinking" (Alfred Kazin) or writing as learning and thinking--this paper examines the work of anthropologist Clifford Geertz in the light of that definition. Particular attention is paid to his idea of "local knowledge" (or theme) and "thick description," as exemplified by his 1980 ethnography, "Negara," which reveals the anthropologist telling many stories within the context of a highly focused theme to help deal with the complexity of composing human experience, especially that of a "strange" society. The paper contends that the ethnographer's struggles to come to terms with a "strange" society make socio-cultural anthropology an ideal area to study the personal essay because of the revealing interpenetration of language and experience. The paper also remarks that the increasing tendency toward thematic ethnography reflects a growing awareness among ethnographers of the "primacy of context." The first part of the paper explores the theoretical premise of writing as learning and thinking as the only option really open to the ethnographer because of the nature of the ethnographic writing task as highly thematic and interpretive. The second part uses Geertz's "Negara" (a study of the "theatre state" in nineteenth century Bali) as an example of this premise, and to show that the layers of interpretation in his intricately written ethnography enact Geertz's primary aim, "deep writing" and "deep reading," an essential goal for any anthropologist who tries to come to terms with the meaning of human experience. Forty-two references are appended. (MS)