If you've read "What the Buddha Never Taught" or "The Great Dragon's Fleas," you know Tim Ward's writing style. He traveled through Asia and writes about Buddhism with insight and humor. The third book in his non-fiction "nirvana trilogy," "Arousing the Goddess" takes the reader along with Tim and Sabina as they search India for statues depicting Buddha in the Earth-touching gesture. Along the way, Tim and Sabina fall in love and experience a sexual style that is at once physically uncomfortable and spiritually exciting. Ward adds a ferocious candor to his book, giving you an uncommonly vivid and intimate account of Tantric sex and the history behind it.This is a thoroughly engrossing tale that is among the best travel narratives in recent years, right up there with William Dalrymple and Bill Bryson. He manages to cover familiar ground with a fresh voice, and uncommon ground with a style that never leaves the reader behind. Ward's at his best describing the everyday aspects of the subcontinent: ablutions in the Ganges, ordinary people forging an existence, and negotiating the seething cacophony of what is at once one of the world's most dazzling and unsavory lands. "Arousing the Goddess" is full of surprises, and in the end we are encouraged on our own path to truth. Buy this book if you ever plan to visit India, if you've been and want to relive the wonders, or if you're simply looking for an engaging read.