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The Elephanta Suite by Paul Theroux
The Elephanta Suite is a trio of novellas centered around the experience of Americans in India. In the first story, "Monkey Hill," an American couple come to an Ayurvedic spa and decides to extend their stay because of attractions with massage therapists at the spa. It's a decision they come to regret. The second story, "The Gateway of India," finds businessman Dwight Huntsinger arriving in Mumbai to set up contracts with Indian call centers. Initially, he's reluctant to venture out of his hotel room, but after hiring a local prostitute, he finds himself drawn into the city life. The final story, "The Elephant God," has Alice Durand, fresh of out college, visiting an ashram near Bangalore and working to train local call center personnel in American idioms. She visits a chained elephant every day and resists the advances of a local man about to be married to someone else. Paul Theroux's book has received mostly positive reviews with the Seattle Times saying, "Their reversals and transfigurations, along with the book's welter of descriptive detail, make The Elephanta Suite Theroux's most vital piece of fiction since Hotel Honolulu.
