biblio-excerptise:   a book unexamined is not worth having

Baksheesh and Brahman: Asian Journals-India

Joseph Campbell and Robin Stephen Larsen (ed.) and Anthony van Couvering (ed.)

Campbell, Joseph; Robin Stephen Larsen (ed.); Anthony van Couvering (ed.);

Baksheesh and Brahman: Asian Journals-India (Collected Works)

New World Library 2002-10-01 (Hardcover, 400 pages $22.95)

ISBN 9781577312376 / 1577312376

topics: |  autobiography | india | travel


Years before he became a mythology expert and household name, Joseph Campbell
journeyed to India. He was nearly 50, at a career crossroads, and after 10
years studying Indian art and philosophy he was finally going to India
seeking the transcendent (Brahman), the mysteries of India. Instead he found
the stark realities of baksheesh culture. His journal of those six months is
the closest Campbell ever came to an autobiography. It's a diary of his
adventures, insights, and ponderings; it's a window into the India of 1954
and the Joseph Campbell of 1954--both are intriguing places to visit.


amitabha mukerjee (mukerjee [at] gmail.com) 17 Feb 2009