Book review

Mulk Raj Anand (1905–2004) had one lament he often voiced to his friends and literary critics—that his short stories were not paid enough attention.

This volume brings together some of the best and most memorable stories from Anand's published collections, each of them illustrating a different mood and tone. In his half-humorous and half-ironic way, Anand draws our attention to the plight of the marginalized, the poor and the illiterate, and penetrates their innermost feelings and emotions. Straightforward, unpretentious and expertly crafted, these unforgettable vignettes of life in twentieth-century India are sure to haunt the reader long after the book has been put down.

‘Mr Anand is not a mere storyteller, he is a poet as well. There runs a fine poetic streak through his stories' —Alfred Perles in Life and Letters

• Published by Penguin Books India
• Published: July 2006
• Imprint: Penguin
• ISBN: 0143062107
• Edition: Paperback
• Format: B
• Extent: 280pp
• Classification: Fiction/Humour
• Rights: World




About the author Mulk Raj Anand was born in Peshawar in 1905 and educated at the universities of Punjab and London. After earning his PhD in Philosophy in 1929, Anand began writing for T.S. Eliot`s magazine Criterion as well as books on cooking and art. Recognition came with the publication of his first two novels, Untouchable and Coolie . These were followed by a succession of novels, including his well-known trilogy The Village (1939), Across the Black Waters (1940) and The Sword and the Sickle (1942). By the time he returned to India in 1946, he was easily the best-known Indian writer abroad.