Махаджан Каран (2)

"Karan Mahajan is a natural-a masterful storyteller, an assured stylist, and a gentle satirist whose unblinking vision is ultimately tempered by compassion. is an incredibly accomplished debut. More than a fine first novel, it's one of the best comic novels I've read in years." — Jay Mclnerney, author of

Rakesh Ahuja, a Government Minister in New Delhi, is beset by problems: thirteen children and another on the way; a wife who mourns the loss of her favorite TV star; and a teenaged son with some strong opinions about family planning.

To make matters worse, looming over this comical farrago are secrets-both personal and political-that threaten to push the Ahuja household into disastrous turmoil. Following father and son as they blunder their way across the troubled landscape of New Delhi, Karen Mahajan brilliantly captures the frenetic pace of India's capital city to create a searing portrait of modern family life.

"Sharply written, bracingly funny, and unexpectedly moving-Karan Mahajan combines 'take no prisoners' satire with haunting insights into the human condition." — Manil Suri, author of

"It's hard to believe the author of this classic family saga is only twenty-four. Harder still to believe this is his first book. I've never seen a debut like this. is the full band announcement of a major talent." — Stephen Elliott, author of

For readers of Mohsin Hamid, Dave Eggers, Arundhati Roy, and Teju Cole, is an expansive and deeply humane novel that is at once groundbreaking in its empathy, dazzling in its acuity, and ambitious in scope.

When brothers Tushar and Nakul Khurana, two Delhi schoolboys, pick up their family’s television set at a repair shop with their friend Mansoor Ahmed one day in 1996, disaster strikes without warning. A bomb — one of the many “small” bombs that go off seemingly unheralded across the world — detonates in the Delhi marketplace, instantly claiming the lives of the Khurana boys, to the devastation of their parents. Mansoor survives, bearing the physical and psychological effects of the bomb. After a brief stint at university in America, Mansoor returns to Delhi, where his life becomes entangled with the mysterious and charismatic Ayub, a fearless young activist whose own allegiances and beliefs are more malleable than Mansoor could imagine. Woven among the story of the Khuranas and the Ahmeds is the gripping tale of Shockie, a Kashmiri bomb maker who has forsaken his own life for the independence of his homeland.

Karan Mahajan writes brilliantly about the effects of terrorism on victims and perpetrators, proving himself to be one of the most provocative and dynamic novelists of his generation.