India’s favorite mythologist, Devdutt Pattanaik will introduce readers to the fascinating mythology of angels, demons, prophets and kings of the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam, in his new book, “Eden: An Indian Retelling of Jewish, Christian and Islamic lore” (Viking).
The bestselling author of “Jaya”, “Sita”, “Shyam”, and “Olympus” will now chronicle the Abrahamic myths that emerged in the Middle East over 3,000 years ago and formed the foundation of some of the world’s major religions. This myth of loss, and rescue, the author argues, plays a key role in shaping secular Western ideologies such as Capitalism, Communism, Socialism, and Scientism that dominate the world today.
The book will also include stories from Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek, Ugarit and Zoroastrian mythologies that shaped the monotheistic worldview, as well as stories from Indo-Christian and Indo-Islamic folklore that it inspired in South Asia.
Meru Gokhale, Publisher, Penguin Press, Penguin Random House India commented: “Devdutt is a master storyteller, who has an unparalleled talent for writing about big subjects intimately. We are indeed very proud to publish this book.”
Devdutt Pattanaik writes, illustrates and lectures on the relevance of mythology in modern times. He has, since 1996, written over 50 books and 1,000 columns on how stories, symbols and rituals construct the subjective truth (myths) of ancient and modern cultures around the world.
His books with Penguin Random House India include “Shyam: An Illustrated Retelling of the Bhagavata”, “The Book of Ram, Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata”, “Sita: An Illustrated Retelling of the Ramayana”, “The Girl Who Chose” and the “Devlok with Devdutt Pattanaik” series, among others.
He consults with corporations on leadership and governance, and TV channels on mythological serials. His TV shows include Business Sutra on CNBC-TV18 and Devlok on Epic TV.