Kiran Desai

Hullabaloo in the guava orchard

lara anand

Sampath Chawla, a young postal worker who never feels as though he fits into the small Indian town into which he is born, one day climbs up a tree, only to become a famous holy man.

Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard

Laura Mauler

Winner of the 2006 Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction for her second novel "The Inheritance of Loss," Kiran Desai is one of the most talented writers of her generation. Now available for the first time as a Grove Press paperback, "Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard"--Desai's dazzling debut novel--is a wryly hilarious and poignant story that simultaneously captures the vivid culture of the Indian subcontinent and the universal intricacies of human experience. Sampath Chawla was born in a time of drought into a family not quite like other families, in a town not quite like other towns. After years of failure at school, failure at work, of spending his days dreaming in tea stalls, it does not seem as if Sampath is going to amount to much--until one day he climbs a guava tree in search of peaceful contemplation and becomes unexpectedly famous as a holy man, sending his tiny town into turmoil. A syndicate of larcenous, alcoholic monkeys terrorize the pilgrims who cluster around Sampath's tree, spies and profiteers descend on the town, and none of Desai's outrageous characters goes unaffected as events spin increasingly out of control.

Laura Luchian

Sampath Chawla was born in a time of drought that ended with a vengeance the night of his birth. All signs being auspicious, the villagers triumphantly assured Sampath's proud parents that their son was destined for greatness. Twenty years of failure later, that unfortunately does not appear to be the case. A sullen government worker, Sampath is inspired only when in search of a quiet place to take his nap. "But the world is round," his grandmother says. "Wait and see! Even if it appears he is going downhill, he will come up the other side. Yes, on top of the world. He is just taking a longer route." No one believes her until, one day, Sampath climbs into a guava tree and becomes unintentionally famous as a holy man, setting off a series of events that spin increasingly out of control. A delightfully sweet comic novel that ends in a raucous bang, Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard is as surprising and entertaining as it is beautifully wrought.

Hullabaloo in the guava orchard

Reviews