Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystic East (Vintage International)

Gita Mehta, the Indian & American writer, journalist, & filmmaker, died September 16, 2023 at age 80. Mehta's first book was Karma Cola: Marketing the Mystic East, a work of nonfiction about Westerners who came to India looking for instant enlightenment, that was published in 1979. Her first novel, Raj, about a princess in the early 1900s as royal India was ending, was published in 1989, followed by A River Sutra, a collection of stories about people touched by the river Narmada, in 1993; Snakes & Ladders: Glimpses of India, about the country on its 50th anniversary of independence, in 1997; & Eternal Ganesha, a popular study of the Hindu deity Ganesha, in 2006.Mehta also produced & directed TV documentaries for various European & U.S. networks & from 1970 to 1971 was a war correspondent for NBC. Dateline Bangladesh was her film compilation of the Bangladesh liberation war of 1971. Mehta was married to Sonny Mehta, longtime president & editor-in-chief of Knopf, who died in 2019.In the New York Times, Edward Hower called A River Sutra "enchanting," adding that it "takes place in a fabled land of the romantic imagination, drawing on timeless literary traditions. Told with skill & sensitivity, Gita Mehta's tales are a delight to read, bringing to Western readers the mystery & drama of a rich cultural heritage." It is available from Vintage. "Michael Ondaatje's three previous novels have each been met with the highest praise: for their startling narrative inventiveness, the richness of their imagery and emotion, and the spellbinding quality of their language. When In the Skin of a Lion was published in 1987, Carolyn Kizer, writing in The New York Times Book Review, called Ondaatje "a beautiful writer... brilliantly gifted." And Tom Clark wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle that "Ondaatje handles fiction with the deceptive touch of a magician." Now, with The English Patient, he gives us his most stunningly original and lyric novel yet." "During the final moments of World War II, in a deserted Italian villa, four people come together: a young nurse, her will broken, all her energy focussed on her last, dying patient, a man in whom she has seen something "she wanted to learn, to grow into and hide in"... the patient: an unknown Englishman, survivor of a plane crash, his mind awash with a life's worth of secrets and passions ... a thief whose "skills" have made him one of the war's heroes, and one of its casualties ... an Indian soldier in the British army, an expert at bomb disposal whose three years at war have taught him that "the only thing safe is himself."" "Slowly, they begin to reveal themselves to each other, the stories of their pasts and of the present unfolding in scene after haunting scene, taking us into the Sahara, the English countryside, down the streets of London during the Blitz, into the makeshift army hospitals of Italy, and through the battered gardens and rooms of the villa. And with these stories, Ondaatje weaves a complex tapestry of image and emotion, recollection and observation: the paths and details of four diverse lives caught and changed and now inextricably connected by the brutal, improbable circumstances of war."--BOOK JACKET. Beginning in the late '60s, hundreds of thousands of Westerners descended upon India, disciples of a cultural revolution that proclaimed that the magic and mystery missing from their lives was to be found in the East. An Indian writer who has also lived in England and the United States, Gita Mehta was ideally placed to observe the spectacle of European and American "pilgrims" interacting with their hosts. When she finally recorded her razor sharp observations in Karma Cola, the book became an instant classic for describing, in merciless detail, what happens when the traditions of an ancient and longlived society are turned into commodities and sold to those who don't understand them. In the dazzling prose that has become her trademark, Mehta skewers the entire Spectrum of seekers: The Beatles, homeless students, Hollywood rich kids in detox, British guilt-trippers, and more. In doing so, she also reveals the devastating byproducts that the Westerners brought to the villages of rural lndia -- high anxiety and drug addiction among them. Brilliantly irreverent, Karma Cola displays Gita Mehta's gift for weaving old and new, common and bizarre, history and current events into a seamless and colorful narrative that is at once witty, shocking, and poignant. From the Trade Paperback edition As a pair of young scholars researching the lives of two Victorian poets uncover their letters, journals, & poems, & trace their movements from London to Yorkshire-and from spiritualist seances to the fairy-haunted far west of Brittany-an extraordinary counterpoint of passions & ideas emerges. An exhilarating novel of wit and romance, an intellectual mystery, and a triumphant love story. This tale of a pair of young scholars researching the lives of two Victorian poets became a huge bookseller favorite, and then on to national bestellerdom. Winner of England's Booker Prize, a coast-to-coast bestseller, and the literary sensation of the year, Possession is a novel of wit and romance, at once an intellectual mystery and a triumphant love story. Revolving around a pair of young scholars researching the lives of two Victorian poets, Byatt creates a haunting counterpoint of passion and ideas All the Pretty Horses is a novel by American author Cormac McCarthy published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1992. Its romanticism (in contrast to the bleakness of McCarthy's earlier work) brought the writer much public attention. It was a bestseller, and it won both the U.S. National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Along with The Crossing (1994), and Cities of the Plain (1998), it constitues McCarthy's "Border Trilogy", an elegy for the American Frontier, written in an unconventional format which omits traditional Western punctuation (such as quotation marks) and makes use of polysyndetic syntax in a manner similar to that of Ernest Hemingway. The book was adapted as a 2000 eponymous film, starring Matt Damon and Penélope Cruz, and directed by Billy Bob Thornton. (main source EN.wikipedia) Winner of England’s Booker Prize and the literary sensation of the year, *Possession* is an exhilarating novel of wit and romance, at once an intellectual mystery and triumphant love story. It is the tale of a pair of young scholars researching the lives of two Victorian poets. As they uncover their letters, journals, and poems, and track their movements from London to Yorkshire—from spiritualist séances to the fairy-haunted far west of Brittany—what emerges is an extraordinary counterpoint of passions and ideas. An exhilarating novel of wit and romance, an intellectual mystery, and a triumphant love story. This tale of a pair of young scholars researching the lives of two Victorian poets became a huge bookseller favorite, and then on to national bestellerdom. BOOKER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The bestselling author of Warlight traces the intersection of four damaged lives in an abandoned Italian villa at the end of World War II. “A rare spellbinding web of dreams.” —Time The nurse Hana, exhausted by death, obsessively tends to her last surviving patient. Caravaggio, the thief, tries to reimagine who he is, now that his hands are hopelessly maimed. The Indian sapper Kip searches for hidden bombs in a landscape where nothing is safe but himself. And at the center of his labyrinth lies the English patient, nameless and hideously burned, a man who is both a riddle and a provocation to his companions—and whose memories of suffering, rescue, and betrayal illuminate this book like flashes of heat lightning. BOOKER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A tale of two young scholars researching the secret love affair of two Victorian poets that's an exhilarating novel of wit and romance, an intellectual mystery, and a triumphant love story. “Gorgeously written ... A tour de force.” —The New York Times Book ReviewWinner of England's Booker Prize and a literary sensation, Possession traces the lives of a pair of young academics as they uncover a clandestine relationship between two long-dead Victorian poets. As they unearth their letters, journals, and poems, and track their movements from London to Yorkshire—from spiritualist séances to the fairy-haunted far west of Brittany—what emerges is an extraordinary counterpoint of passions and ideas. BOOKER PRIZE WINNER • From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, here is “an intricate and dazzling novel” (The New York Times) about the perfect butler and his fading, insular world in post-World War II England. This is Kazuo Ishiguro's profoundly compelling portrait of a butler named Stevens. Stevens, at the end of three decades of service at Darlington Hall, spending a day on a country drive, embarks as well on a journey through the past in an effort to reassure himself that he has served humanity by serving the'great gentleman,'Lord Darlington. But lurking in his memory are doubts about the true nature of Lord Darlington's'greatness,'and much graver doubts about the nature of his own life.

with Ravishing Beauty And Unsettling Intelligence, Michael Ondaatje's Booker Prize-winning Novel Traces The Intersection Of Four Damaged Lives In An Italian Villa At The End Of World War Ii. Hana, The Exhausted Nurse; The Maimed Thief, Caravaggio; The Wary Sapper, Kip: Each Is Haunted By The Riddle Of The English Patient, The Nameless, Burned Man Who Lies In An Upstairs Room And Whose Memories Of Passion, Betrayal,and Rescue Illuminates This Book Like Flashes Of Heat Lightening.

new York Times Books Of The Century

...[an] Intensely Theatrical Tour De Force [that] Reveals, If Not A Great Peace At The Heart Of The Human Mystery, A Vision Of How Heroic The Struggle Is.

Overview: The Remains Of The Day Is A Profoundly Compelling Portrait Of The Perfect English Butler And Of His Fading, Insular World Postwar England. At The End Of His Three Decades Of Service At Darlington Hall, Stevens Embarks On A Country Drive, During Which He Looks Back Over His Career To Reassure Himself That He Has Served Humanity By Serving A Great Gentleman. But Lurking In His Memory Are Doubts About The True Nature Of Lord Darlington's Greatness And Graver Doubts About His Own Faith In The Man He Served. A Tragic, Spiritual Portrait Of A Perfect English Butler And His Reaction To His Fading Insular World In Post-war England. A Wonderful, Wonderful Book. Kazuo Ishiguro. The Booker Prize-winning novel, now a critically acclaimed major motion picture, starring Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe and Kristin Scott Thomas. With ravishing beauty and unsettling intelligence, Michael Ondaatje's Booker Prize-winning novel traces the intersection of four damaged lives in an Italian villa at the end of World War II. Hana, the exhausted nurse; the maimed thief, Caravaggio; the wary sapper, Kip: each is haunted by the riddle of the English patient, the nameless, burned man who lies in an upstairs room and whose memories of passion, betrayal, and rescue illuminates this book like flashes of heat lightening

with The 1998 Publication Of cities Of The Plain, Cormac Mccarthy's Acclaimed Border Trilogy Is Now Complete. The First And Most Admired Book Of The Series Is Mccarthy's National Book Award-winning all The Pretty Horses. In Highly Evocative Prose That Puts The Reader Firmly In The Saddle, all The Pretty Horses Follows The Progress Of Laconic 16-year-old Texan John Grady Cole, His Pal Lacey Rawlins, And The Mysterious Young Sharp Shooter Jimmy Blevins As They Ride Across The Border Into Mexico In Search Of Adventure.

newsweek

a True American Original.

The novel's narrator, Stevens, is a perfect English butler who tries to give his narrow existence form and meaning through the self-effacing, almost mystical practice of his profession. In a career that spans the second World War, Stevens is oblivious of the real life that goes on around him -- oblivious, for instance, of the fact that his aristocrat employer is a Nazi sympathizer. Still, there are even larger matters at stake in this heartbreaking, pitch-perfect novel -- namely, Stevens' own ability to allow some bit of life-affirming love into his tightly repressed existence NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The first volume in the Border Trilogy, from the bestselling author of The Passenger and the Pulitzer Prize–winning novel The RoadAll the Pretty Horses is the tale of John Grady Cole, who at sixteen finds himself at the end of a long line of Texas ranchers, cut off from the only life he has ever imagined for himself. With two companions, he sets off for Mexico on a sometimes idyllic, sometimes comic journey to a place where dreams are paid for in blood.Look for Cormac McCarthy's latest novels, The Passenger and Stella Maris. Winner of England's Booker Prize and the literary sensation of the year, Possession is an exhilarating novel of wit and romance, at once an intellectual mystery and a triumphant love story. It is the tale of a pair of young scholars researching the lives of two Victorian poets. As they uncover their letters, journals and poems, and track their movements from London to Yorkshire - from spiritualist sances to the fairy-haunted far west of Brittany - what emerges is an extraordinary counterpoint of passions and ideas. This is an exhilarating novel of wit and romance, at once an intellectual mystery and a triumphant love story. It is the tale of a pair of young scholars researching the lives of two Victorian poets. As they uncover their letters, journals, and poems, and track their movements from London to Yorkshire -- from spiritualist séances to the fairy-haunted far west of Brittany -- what emerges is an extraordinary counterpoint of passions and ideas Winner Of England's Booker Prize, A Coast-to-coast Bestseller, And The Literary Sensation Of The Year, Possession Is A Novel Of Wit And Romance, At Once An Intellectual Mystery And A Triumphant Love Story. Revolving Around A Pair Of Young Scholars Researching The Lives Of Two Victorian Poets, Byatt Creates A Haunting Counterpoint Of Passion And Ideas. A.s. Byatt. Reprint. Originally Published: New York : Random House, 1990. John Grady Cole, a 16-year-old dispossessed Texan, crosses the Rio Grande into Mexico in 1949, accompanied by his pal Lacey Rawlins. The two precocious horsemen pick up a sidekick-- a laughable but deadly marksman named Jimmy Blevins-- encounter various adventures on their way south and finally arrive at a paradisiacal hacienda where Cole falls into an ill-fated romance After a badly burned pilot is pulled from the wreckage of his plane in the Sahara Desert, he's placed in the care of an army nurse and identified only as "the English patient". As his memory slowly returns, a passionate and consuming love affair with a married woman is unveiled, and lives from both the past and the present become inextricably altered In the summer of 1956, Stevens, the ageing butler of Darlington Hall, embarks on a leisurely holiday that will take him deep into the countryside and into his past . . .A contemporary classic, The Remains of the Day is Kazuo Ishiguro's beautiful and haunting evocation of life between the wars in a Great English House, of lost causes and lost love. ±All the Pretty Horses? cuenta sobre el joven John Grady Cole, el último de una larga lista de rancheros de Texas. Al otro lado de la frontera, México atrae, hermoso y desolado, robusto y cruelmente civilizado. Con dos compañeros, se embarca en una aventura idílica, a veces cómica, hacia un lugar donde los sueños se pagan con sangre Teenager John Grady Cole, the last of a long line of Texas ranchers, has nothing left to stay for. Across the border Mexico beckonsbeautiful and desolate, rugged and cruelly civilized. With neighbor Rawlins, and scruffy boy, he rides toward an idyllic, sometimes comic adventure, to a place where dreams are paid for in blood. Cut off from the life of ranching he has come to love by his grandfather's death, John Grady Cole flees to Mexico, where he and his two companions embark on a rugged and cruelly idyllic adventure