India

India: A Traveler's Literary Companion features more than a dozen short stones from some of India's best contemporary writers, collectively offering an insightful portrait of the beauty and complexity of Indian landscape, culture, and society.

See Kashmir's fabled vistas through the eyes of Salman Rushdie as he takes you to the scene of a stricken household and a grand theft in Srinagar. Go back four centuries in time to the Taj Mahal with Kunal Basu as the humble accountant of his story becomes, in another incarnation, the architect of one of the world's most resplendent monuments. Let Vikram Chandra lead you by the hand into the ghettos of Mumbai (Bombay), where a small-time thug fences gold bars he has stolen. Journey with Bibhutibhushan Bandhopadhyay's silver-tongued salesman of medicated oil as he travels the trains around Calcutta, the city he loves more than anything else. And Nazir Mansuri's Melvillian "The Whale" transports us to a small fishing village on the west coast of India, where an embittered sailor makes every whale he sees the object of his fury.

Stories from eight languages and more than a dozen distinct cultures and regions-from north, south, east, west, and even from India's remote northeast-are brought together in this vibrant collection. India offers a thrilling portrayal of the glories of India and a front row seat to its traditions of storytelling.