In 1971, fed up with the politics and culture of America, Terry Tarnoff packed a bag, a guitar and sixteen harmonicas and headed out on an eight year journey that would take him into the jungles of Africa, the mountains of India and beyond. Smoking a chillum around a funeral pyre with lepers, battling fist size cockroaches in Mombasa Africa or driving through the poppy fields of Thailand with a kamikaze cab driver, each adventure leads Terry further into worlds unlike those he has ever known. Through an eclectic coterie of like minded expatriates-from a heroin junkie in Bangkok to the girl of his dreams in Stockholm-Terry begins to discover the true purpose of his travels.

An energetic exploration of one drop-out's search to find answers in a world that poses only questions, Tarnoff's journey is an exploration of freedom and an effort to push the limits of human experience. With wit, irreverence and more than an ounce of pathos, The Bone Man of Benares traverses the chasm of time and through his startling adventures speaks to readers young and old about the universal need for connection.