<p><B>In this "candid, perceptive and intelligent" trio of novellas, </B><B>the acclaimed travel writer presents tales</B><B> of Westerners transformed by sojourns in India (<I>Independent</I>, UK).</B><BR /> These three intertwined novellas by the author of <I>The Great Railway Bazaar</I> capture 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 truth, peace, or woe. <BR /> <BR /> 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.