{"product_id":"the-conquest-of-kailash-9789362690876","title":"The Conquest of Kailash","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom the award-winning author of Toxic Spirits comes a new and heartbreaking \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003enovel about cruelty and marginalization, and the struggle to find meaning in a world \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eof mounting prejudice and false belief. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGay but still closeted and missing his wife Helen - who has fled their home to \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ebecome a Buddhist nun - Ali Akbar returns in old age from California to India. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt the Deer Park where the Buddha gave his first sermon, he comes across a flyer \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethat promises to teach him how to find love again. After being assaulted outside the \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003epark at a parade led by a religious fundamentalist, Ali attempts to make good on the \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003epromise of the flyer, traveling from Benares up towards the icy heights of Mount \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKailash. Along the way, Ali is forced to come to terms with the relentless sexual \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eabuse he suffered in childhood in India, as well as his personal failures, including his \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eexpulsion from Cambridge University, his failed career hopes, and most of all, his \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003erelationships with Helen and their daughter Homa. Navigating between competing \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efundamentalisms that mark a time of social collapse, Ali tries, in the time that he \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ehas left, to seize that last chance to find love again -- even if it takes a very different \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eform from what he expected. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSteeped in the philosophies of classical Greece and India, and layered with colorful \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003etravelogues in India, England, and the US, The Conquest of Kailash is written in Mani's \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003echaracteristically atmospheric and humane style that has attracted readers worldwide.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Ukiyoto Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50459824521490,"sku":"9789362690876","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_c7df6e78-233d-4baf-96a1-b8b421e807dd.jpg?v=1730008034","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-conquest-of-kailash-9789362690876","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}