All Kinds of Magic

Book excerpt: A personal search for the mystical and miraculous, from the acclaimed author of Honey and Dust 'So sincere and carefully told that the result cannot help but move' Financial Times 'Terrific ... Unpretentious, often funny, but also powerfully expressive of experiences beyond language and reason, it's a book which rises to the challenge of its subject with skill and considerable grace' Wanderlust This is the story of a man who embarked on a quest that many of us have dreamed about. Disillusioned by a world hooked on material wealth and scientific fact, he decided to travel across the globe in search of something more meaningful: the magical, the mystical. His journey takes him from snow-blanketed villages in the Himalayas to tiny, covert communities of whirling dervishes in rural Turkey; from the world's largest religious festival on the banks of the swollen Ganges to a dappled, ancient Sufi quarter in Delhi. Lyrical and clear-sighted, All Kinds of Magic is a fascinating exploration of the hidden world of miracles that is at once deeply personal and universal in its scope.