I recently read all three books from a remarkable writer, Jhumpa Lahiri. Her writing, which probes culture and generational clashes among Bengali families living in the U.S., is utterly gorgeous, almost Chekovian in style. Her first collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies, earned her a Pulitzer Prize (reportedly still in bubble wrap---Lahiri eschews the limelight and admits she doesn't even read book reviews).
I was so enchanted with her debut book that I followed with The Namesake--a novel which spans 30 years in the life of the Ganguli family and was turned into a Mira Nair film (which I haven't seen, but want to). But my absolute favorite is her most recent work Unaccustomed Earth, a collection of eight quiet, fictional short stories.
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| Lahiri's first collection of stories |
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| The Namesake was made into a Mira Nair film |
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| My personal favorite |
Her characters are exquisitely developed...as she explores universal issues that pertain to everyone: couples and families joining, coming apart, death, love, miscarriages, estrangement.
Her fiction is not just about or for Indian Americans--it truly speaks to us all. You don't need to read the trilogy to appreciate her writing. Each book stands on it's own and you can read them in any order.
Click on the link below to listen to Lahiri speak about Unaccustomed Earth in an NPR interview:
And Fresh Air's Terry Gross speaking to Lahiri about The Namesake:
In 2010, Lahiri was appointed a member of the Committee on the Arts and Humanities by President Barack Obama.
Ms. Lahiri is truly a tour-de-force in the literary world.
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