Nearing age thirty, Amanda thought shed be someone else by now. Instead, shes just herself: an ex-nanny yogini-wannabe who cranks out For Idiots travel guides just to scrape by. Yes, she has her sexy photographer boyfriend, but hes usually goneshooting a dogsled race in Alaska or a vision quest in Peruor just hooking up with other girls. However, shes sure her new assignment, Enlightenment for Idiots, will change everything; now shell become the serene, centered woman she was meant to be. After some breakup sex, shes off to India to find a new, more spiritual life.What she finds, though, is an ashram run by investment bankers, a yoga master who trashes her knee, and a guru with a weakness for fashion models. She escapes a tantra party at the Taj Hotel, has a nasty argument outside the cave where the Buddha used to meditate, then agonizes through the ten-day silent retreat thats supposed to make her feel better. No, India is not what she had pictured.

But she finds a friend in Devi Das, a redheaded sadhu who refers to himself as we. And when a holy lunatic on the street offers her an enigmatic blessing, Amanda realizes a new life may be in store for herjust not the one she was expecting.From the Hardcover edition.