The Elephanta Suite (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780547086026)

A master of the travel narrative weaves three intertwined novellas of Westerners transformed by their sojourns in India.

This startling, far-reaching book captures the tumult, ambition, hardship, and serenity that mark today's India. Theroux's Westerners risk venturing far beyond the subcontinent's well-worn paths to discover woe or truth or peace. A middle-aged couple on vacation veers heedlessly from idyll to chaos. A buttoned-up Boston lawyer finds succor in Mumbai's reeking slums. And a young woman befriends an elephant in Bangalore.

We also meet Indian characters as singular as they are reflective of the country's subtle ironies: an executive who yearns to become a holy beggar, an earnest young striver whose personality is rewired by acquiring an American accent, a miracle-working guru, and others.

As ever, Theroux's portraits of people and places explode stereotypes to exhilarating effect. The Elephanta Suite urges us toward a fresh, compelling, and often inspiring notion of what India is, and what it can do to those who try to lose--or find--themselves there.

Author: Paul Theroux
ISBN-10: 0547086024
ISBN-13: 9780547086026
Publisher: Mariner Books
Language: English
Published: 09/01/2008
Pages: 288
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.66lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.40w x 0.90d

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 10/19/2008 pg. 28