River of Love in an Age of Pollution

Book excerpt: "Very few scholars in religious studies have achieved Haberman's combination of textual and ethnographic authority. The book is groundbreaking, building on his achievements in the study of the religious traditions of Braj; he is widely regarded as a major authority on this area of Hinduism's complex regional matrix. The superior scholarship, combined with the author's personal voice, gives the book additional resonance, bringing to light an urgent environmental and moral challenge."—Paul B. Courtright, co-editor, From the Margins of Hindu Marriage: Essays in Gender, Religion, and Culture