An unusual, thought provoking, relentlessly offbeat work by a Brit who has lived in Verona for most of his life, who writes novels (short listed for the Booker) and essays (NYRB where I learned of the work). Where to begin? The basics are that Parks has some serious somatic complaints (nocturia, frequency, pain) which he seeks to remedy via first Traditional Western medicine and finally finds relief and perhaps redemption in non-traditional methods. Starting with an ayurvedic doctor in Agra, moving to Shiatsu, and finally meditation with a major boost from a self-help book by a psychiatrist and neurologist from Stanford.  Parks is forced to reexamine the connection between mind and body, between writing and sleep and between faith (his father was an evangelical Anglican) and life. Written skillfully and with feeling. Parks pulls it off. Makes me want to meditate!