Smart readers of the hip Toronto website BlogTO will have the opportunity to win Empire of the Soul: Some Journeys in India, by Paul William Roberts, tomorrow. Funny, insightful, and occasionally surreal, Empire of the Soul is a remarkable portrait of India’s political, cultural and spiritual life. First published in 1994, this updated edition has a new introduction from the author. 

Paul William Roberts, who lives in Toronto, writes for Harper’s, The New Yorker, the Atlantic Monthly, the Times Literary Supplement, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Jordan Times and the Globe and Mail. His book The War Against Truth: An Intimate Account of the Invasion of Iraq, published by Raincoast, won the 2005 PEN Canada/Paul Kidd Courage Award and was a finalist for the 2004 Charles Taylor Non-Fiction Prize. 

The book will be given away as part of BlogTO‘s weekly “Humpday Giveaway” cheering up Toronto’s unfortunate literary types suffering midweek existential crises.

Praise for Empire of the Soul:

“Uniquely engaging, often profound, and beautifully written, it presents a powerful and hauntingly vital portrait of an ancient civilization in the grips of a modern economic miracle.”
-- New York Times

“Unusual… wondrous… splendidly evocative… lush.”
-- Globe and Mail

“Reminiscent of Bruce Chatwin, this soul-searching literary travelogue turns a keen and uncompromising eye toward India.”
-- Publishers Weekly

“One of the most remarkable travel books ever written. It’s brilliant, funny, moving and often profound… Empire of the Soul is the most living book about India I have ever read.”
-- Colin Wilson