Ayyan Mani lebt mit seiner Familie in einer trostlosen
Hochhaussiedlung in Mumbai und arbeitet als Sekretär eines
arroganten Professors am Institut für Forschung und Theorie. Doch
er hat einen Plan, um die finanzielle Situation seiner Familie zu
verbessern: Jeden Abend, wenn er nach Hause kommt, trichtert er
seinem 10-jährigen Sohn das unmöglichste Wissen ein und präsentiert
ihn der Fachwelt flugs als Wunderkind.
Eine schreiend komische Geschichte mit Anklängen an 'Slumdog
Millionaires'.
Winner of the Man Asian Literary Prize and shortlisted for the
Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction
Ayyan Mani is a man born to greater things, which wouldn't
surprise his neighbours in the vast tenement building in which he
lives, where to be sober and employed practically makes a man a
legend.
He works as an assistant at the Institute of Theory and Research,
where he studies with amusement and envy the public battles and
private love affairs of the squabbling scientists. But when an
opportunity for betterment presents itself in the form of his
'gifted' ten-year-old son Adi, father and son embark on an
outrageous ruse that will have far-reaching consequences . .
.
Manu Joseph's archly comic debut is a tale of a man's
attempt to elevate himself and his family above the banality of
ordinary existence.
Funny, diverting and original -- Guardian Manu Joseph's first novel elegantly describes collisions with an unyielding status quo, ably counterpointing the frustrations of the powerless with the unfulfilling realities of power. With this astute comedy of manners he makes a convincing bid for his own recognition as a novelist of serious talent, the latest addition to a roster of Indian writers who are creating fine literary art from their country's fearsome contradictions -- Peter Carty, Independent Manu Joseph's satirical tale of an ostensibly new India still in thrall to its caste-ridden and sexist traditions is so much more than a mere comic caper ... Sophisticated entertainment -- Catherine Taylor, Guardian The finest comic novelists know that a small world can illuminate a culture and an age...with this sad-funny debut Joseph does just that -- Boyd Tonkin, Books to light up lazy days, Independent He has written a debut novel that skewers a society where new ambitions and older class divisions co-exist. From the contrasts of contemporary India, he extracts pointed, often bitter comedy -- Sunday Times The writing is exuberant -- TLS A charming debut novel -- Guardian One of the strongest debuts of 2010, this bittersweet Mumbai tale of high minds and low plots never quite won the plaudits it deserves. Now it has a second chance ... More Lucky Jim than White Tiger ... Touching, hilarious, this collision between the Mumbai of stars and of mud rediscovers a deep Indian vein of humane and sophisticated comedy -- Independent
Manu Joseph, geb. 1974 in Kottayam (Indien), lebt in Bombay und leitet dort das Büro des "Open Magazine". Zuvor war er Redakteur bei der "Times of India". Für seine journalistische Tätigkeit hat er bereits mehrere Auszeichnungen erhalten
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