The Cripple and His Talismans
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Book Overview
Prepare to enter a world where the norms of human behavior--even the rules governing time and gravity--are set on their heads. This dark and wry fable begins with the narrator waking up and discovering he is missing an arm. He has no idea how he lost it or how to find it--but as he searches the chaotic, often surreal streets of Bombay, he meets an absurd and marvelous cast of characters who offer him clues: a woman selling rainbows, a beggar living under an egg cart, a coffin maker who builds finger-sized caskets, a giant who lives underwater, a homeless boy riding the rails. They all lead him to Baba Rakhu, master of the underworld, who will reveal the story of his lost arm--for a price. Funny and wise, violent and tender, "The Cripple and His Talismans" is an impressive debut. A bestseller in Canada, it has been compared to the works of Samuel Beckett, Lewis Carroll, and Salman Rushdie.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:1565124561
ISBN13:9781565124561
Release Date:April 2005
Publisher:Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Length:244 Pages
Weight:0.95 lbs.
Dimensions:1.0" x 5.6" x 8.4"
Customer Reviews
2 ratings
Hilarious
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 20 years ago
I love this book. Anosh Irani has a wonderful wit. I've never laughed so much from a book.
An odd tale of Bombay
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 20 years ago
Many books are referred to as "darkly comic." In this case, it's true. It's a dark tale but one that is genuinely funny. An unnamed narrator goes on a quest for his missing arm through the dark, impoverished, violent and funny side of Bombay. The journey is episodic as the wealthy narrator encounters odd characters, wakes in new situations and generally moves through an absurdist world that reveals a Bombay he didn't know, as it also reveals a self he didn't know - or at least, he had been avoiding. In the end, it is a quest for himself. Or perhaps it's more accurate to say a harmonization of himself through the discovery of a strangely and wonderfully contradictory Bombay.
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