Travels on My Elephant

By the international crusader and spokesman for the Indian elephant, and the subject of two Discovery Channel documentaries, this captivating travel memoir logs Mark Shand's remarkable journey through India on the back of a 30-year-old elephant named Tara.Started on a whim and pursued with a passion, their journey covered 800 miles, from the Bay of Bengal to the world's largest elephant bazaar at Sonpur on the Ganges. Blessed by priests and entertained by princes, they shuffled happily through towns and villages: Tara sucking up rice and bananas from roadside stands and Shand scattering rupees in compensation. All Indian life is here -- scavenging dogs and exquisite temples, jostling crowds and empty wilderness. Rivaling Kipling, this story of man and elephant is by turns exciting, terrifying, and moving.Mark Shand's Travels on My Elephant tells an immediately appealing love story.... With an eye for vivid description and a droll sense of humor reminiscent of Peter Mayle's books about France, Shand tells an entertaining story. -- San Francisco Chronicle