The Art of Dying

Gripping and insightful stories on the modern Indian conditionTwenty stories of contemporary Indian life that demonstrate the range of Hariharan's writing executed with a precision of style and magical imagery. Sometimes comic (yet tinged with sadness) as in the much-anthologized 'The Remains of the Feast' where an old woman near the end of her life suddenly feels the urge to sample all the food she has been forbidden sometimes with a twist as in 'Gajar Halwa' where Chellamma a servant girl from a small-town family finally understands what makes a big city work sometimes moving as in 'The Reprieve' these stories never fail to surprise and delight. Review Compassionate yet ruthless in their honesty these beautifully written stories about death and its place in life mark Githa Hariharan as an outstanding new writer -- J.M. CoetzeeHer writing pulsates to the soft sound of an unusual life force . . . hitches the most unthinkable of ideas into a graceful arc of images . . . sunny and well-lit prose which conceals nothing reveals everything -- Times of IndiaImmense depth of understanding -- The HinduScintillating and fluid imagery -- Indian ExpressThere is nothing loose about Hariharan's writing. Her sentences are controlled all extra words shaved away. The distilled brevity is delightful the unsaid hovers everywhere -- Business StandardHariharan writes with feeling and flexibility . . . She writes with ease about grief and about joy -- Free PressAn insatiable urge to turn a situation inside out and pin it down . . . Her stories drag you in right under the skin and make you squirm -- Illustrated Weekly of IndiaDoubts and uncertainties passion and unsuspected guile surface again and again in the stories as they set about with great courage to turn traditional conservative Indian life up on its back revealing a surprisingly soft underbelly -- Book ReviewThere is luminous resonance in the images of Githa Hariharan an author clearly engaged in creating metaphors for different states of being -- Economic Times About the Author Githa Hariharan has written novels short fiction and essays over the last three decades. Her highly acclaimed work includes The Thousand Faces of Night which won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book in 1993 the short story collection The Art of Dying the novels The Ghosts of Vasu Master When Dreams Travel In Times of Siege Fugitive Historiesand I Have Become the Tide and a collection of essays Almost Home Cities and Other Places. She has also written children's stories edited a collection of translated short fiction A Southern Harvest and the essay collection From India to Palestine Essays in Solidarity and co-edited Battling for India A Citizen's Reader.Hariharan has over the years been a cultural commentator through her essays lectures and activism. For more on this Delhi-based author and her work visit www.githahariharan.com.