Table of Contents Acknowledgments vi Introduction 1 Prologue: The Minneapolis Panic 5 The Early Years * 1946-1965 9 Today Bombay, Tomorrow (Miss) Universe 9 * 1966-1969 14 From Bheegi Raat to Bambai Raat Ki Bahon Mein 14 The Seventies * 1970-1973 19 From Beloved India to Frozen England 19; Her First Flight 24 * 1974-1977 26 Khambatta in Kenya 26; Khambatta in Kohl 29; Siri, the ­­Power-Adjacent Princess 30; The Eternal August, Part I: The Screening of Persis 32 * 1978 34 The Eternal August, Part II: The Shave of Singularity 34; The Eternal August, Part III: Ilia Is Introduced 41; The Eternal August, Part IV: Rush Hour on the Event Horizon 47 * 1979 60 The Eternal August, Part V: The Blinding of Persis 60; The Eternal August, Part VI: Persis Is Presented 62 The Eighties * 1980 67 Studio 54 on Parallel 42 67; The Trouble with Exotic Angels 71; Lovin' that cali lifestyle!! 75 * 1981 79 Denny, Khambatta, and Oui 79; Release the Nighthawks 82; The Esquireman Weekend 85; Birds of a Feather Cannot Always Cohabitate Together 89; The (Mega)force of (Tri)illusion 92 * 1982 95 Persis vs. Soup 95; Hunter vs. Khan 97; The Megafudging of Major Zara 103; The Whitewashing of Octopussy 109; The Prime Minister of India Meets the Pride of India 112 * 1983 115 Devi, Coelho, and Khambatta 115; I Visited the Lost World and All I Got Was This Lousy Hairline Fracture 118; The Perils of Persis on the Idiot Box 119 * 1984 122 The Saints of Imperfection 122; The Battle of the Bandit Queens 124; First Strikes and Last Resorts 128 * 1985 132 The Pride of India's Perils in the Lost World 132; Waiting for Gandhi 136; Back to Bombay, for Now 140 * 1986-1988 142 MacGyver vs. Hunter 142; The Blinking Eye 143; The Flameout of the Phoenix 145; This Is a Lowe 150 * 1989-1990 154 The Triillusion Dissolution 154; Exile on Main Street: Des Moines 155 The Nineties * 1991-1993 159 Exile on Main Street: Los Angeles 159; The New Old School 160; Persis Reaches Out 162 * 1994-1995 164 Persis Punches Back 164; Her Journey Through the Past 166; Another Dream Deferred 168 * 1996-1997 170 Pride of India Is Begun 170; India's Pride Is Serenaded 173; Pride of India Is Published 174 * 1998 177 So Long, It Has Not Been Nice to Know You 177; The ­­Pre-Mortem 179; Persis in the Tower, When the Birds Came 181 Chapter Notes 185 Bibliography 205 Index 219.