The Elephanta Suite

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 is a welcome gift to
readers of international fiction and fans of this extraordinary writer.