Transformed by India: A Life

by Stephen P Huyler

Overview

With a compelling story, wit, insight, and candor, American author Stephen Huyler leads the reader into the heart of India. It is a country and culture he knows and loves well. Beginning with his arrival on his twentieth birthday, he spins tales of a young man’ s fascination that seasons into a rare relationship that has lasted half a century. Few foreigners have traveled as extensively in India as he. Huyler has learned to feel the pulse of the people. His innate adaptability has enabled him to be truly quiet, observing, accepting, and accepted by a remarkable range of individuals from maharajah to musician, Brahman to Dalit, and politician to potter. His memoirs are an evocation of an India rarely seen by outsiders: portraits of people, places, and customs. The book combines humor with pathos, delight with dismay, sacred with secular, and tranquility with suspense. His narrative flows and unfolds seamlessly through a life transformed by India.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781913738211
Publisher:	Salt Desert Media
Publication date:	08/26/2025
Pages:	408
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Stephen P. Huyler is an art historian, cultural anthropologist, photographer and author conducting a lifelong survey of the India's sacred art and crafts and their meanings within rural societies. Stephen Huyler has published six books: Village India Abrams (1984), Painted Prayers: Women’s Art in Village India Rizzoli (1994), Gifts of Earth: Terracottas and Clay Sculptures of India Mapin (1996) and Meeting God: Elements of Hindu Devotion Yale University Press, (1999). Daughters of India: Art and Identity Abbeville (2008), and Sonabai: Another Way of Seeing Mapin (2009).

Editorial Reviews

"Sweeping memoir imparting India’s rich beauty and diversity." —Publishers Weekly Booklife Editor's Pick 

"Throughout these reminiscences, Huyler is an unfailingly readable and genial narrator, effectively conveying the sights and sounds that made him fall in love with India and its people." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2025-08-08
Art historian and author Huyler offers an account of his many decades of traveling and learning in India.

The author first went to South Asia in 1971, and in the half-century since then, he’s explored India “by rickshaw, bicycle, camel, bullock cart, horse-drawn buggy, elephant, tuk-tuk, scooter, motorcycle, car, bus, plane, boat, and on foot,” visiting almost every district, talking to countless people, and reveling in all aspects of the nation’s art and culture. Huyler grounds his travel tales in his larger life story, from his upbringing in Ojai, California, to his time at the University of Denver; his courtship and marriage to his wife, Helene; and his journeys to other locations, such as Afghanistan and Turkey. However, the heart of the author’s narrative involves his many encounters with the merchants, vendors, and artists of India, many of whom became longtime friends. Huyler recounts his dealings with people he calls “mentors”—such as Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, the founder of the Central Cottage Industries, a government-owned arts-and-crafts store based in New Delhi—and he also shares a great deal of information regarding the history and traditions of various cities and regions he’s visited. All these experiences have made him an in-demand expert on Indian art and culture; for instance, in the 1980s, he was consulted by various collections and museums in the United States about various Indian art items they possessed. Throughout these reminiscences, Huyler is an unfailingly readable and genial narrator, effectively conveying the sights and sounds that made him fall in love with India and its people. He’s also excellent at relating the culture shock that he experienced coming home to the United States, which he calls a land of “good cars, modern buildings, and efficient businesses”: “After India,” he reflects, “my native society appeared too clean and antiseptic.” Aficionados of India will be captivated by the details hat Huyler highlights, and armchair travelers will also find much of interest here.

A highly personable story of one man’s long association with the world’s most populous country.

Kirkus Reviews