Along the Ganges

"A lyrical homage to India's holiest, moodiest, foulest river. . . .Trojanow is the perfect mix of insider and outsider. . . . It is a treasure of a book, a must-have for anyone spending time on the Ganges and wanting to get to know her better."—Financial Times

"Funny, shocking, and always interesting."—The Spectator

Along the Ganges was voted one of the greatest travel books of all time by Condé Nast Traveler by a jury including Gore Vidal and Paul Theroux.

The River Ganges has a thousand names, and Hindu priests thought it a sin to call her a river at all. She is a goddess, the source of the world. Her waters are holy, healing, and still sold to Hindus the world over. Ilija Tojanow, an international best-selling author, traveled along the Ganges from the source, where it breaks free from the ice in the Himalayas, to the great cities. Along the way he visited the great Hindu festivals and talked to those who warn of ecological disaster caused by gigantic dams. This colorful travelogue describes a country caught between ancient traditions and astonishing modernity, and the holy river that crosses it for hundreds of miles.

Ilija Trojanow is the author Mumbai to Mecca (Haus Publishing) and the best-selling novel The Collector of Worlds, for which he was awarded the Leipzig Book Fair Prize.