Summary

A New York Times Critics’ Top Books of 2017 selection

A London Guardian Best Book of the Year for 2017

A New York Times Best Book of 2017

Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize

A New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice

A Globe and Mail (Toronto) Best Books of 2017 selection

Shortlisted for the American Literary Translators Association Award

Longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award

Longlisted for the 2018 Best Translated Book Award

A Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year selection

A Kirkus Reviews Pick of Favorite Debuts of February 2017

A Publishers Weekly Pick of Writers to Watch, Spring 2017 Debuts

A young man’s close-knit family is nearly destitute when his uncle founds a successful spice company, changing their fortunes overnight. As they move from a cramped, ant-infested shack to a larger house on the other side of Bangalore, and try to adjust to a new way of life, the family dynamic begins to shift. Allegiances realign; marriages are arranged and begin to falter; and conflict brews ominously in the background. Things become “ghachar ghochar”—a nonsense phrase uttered by one meaning something tangled beyond repair, a knot that can’t be untied.

Elegantly written and punctuated by moments of unexpected warmth and humor, Ghachar Ghochar is a quietly enthralling, deeply unsettling novel about the shifting meanings—and consequences—of financial gain in contemporary India.

Editorial Reviews

“Neil Shah gives voice to the existential crisis at the narrator’s core. Six family members live under one roof, tolerating each other. Shah describes their relational highs and lows in a sardonic tone. His narrative style delivers the story in precise, clipped sentences at steady pace. Shah’s experience shows in his well-rounded portrayal of female characters.” —AudioFile

“A classic tale of wealth and moral ruin.” —New Yorker

“Mesmerizing, distressing—and altogether brilliant.” —Karan Mahajan, National Book Award finalist

“Exquisitely observed, wry, and moving…Vivek Shanbhag is a writer of rare and wonderful gifts.” —Garth Greenwell, National Book Award longlisted author

“One of the best novels to have come out of India in recent decades.” —Pankaj Mishra, author of From the Ruins of Empire

“A great Indian novel.” —New York Times Book Review

“Ghachar Ghochar introduces us to a master.” — Paris Review

“There’s a whole universe folded into this slender, spiny novel. It’s a parable of rising India and of violence against women, and a sly commentary on translation…This story of a family’s moral unraveling and descent into cruelty after it comes into sudden wealth—capped by a hair-raising ending—already feels like a modern-day classic.” —New York Times

“The tense fun of reading this vivid, fretful story lies in watching the main characters grab hold of what they think will be rescue ropes but instead turn out to be slip knots…Ghachar Ghochar is filled with wry poetic lines.” —NPR

“One of the most striking novels you’ll read this decade…In Shanbhag’s hands, the Indian family is revealed in layers; as one layer peels away, what lies beneath is left raw and exposed.” —Business Standard (India)

“Absorbing, insightful, and altogether a wonderful read.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Shanbhag excels at capturing nuanced moments…Evocative, one-of-a-kind snapshots linger in the mind long after the novel’s completion.” —Booklist

“A compact novel that crackles with tension, tracing the tangled path of a family’s dissolution in their sudden rise to wealth.” —Kirkus Reviews

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Author Bio: Vivek Shanbhag

Vivek Shanbhag is the author of several works of fiction and two plays, all of which have been published to wide acclaim in the South Indian language Kannada. The first of his books to appear in English, Ghachar Ghochar was excerpted in Granta’s 2015 India issue.

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Details

Format:	Retail CD	Format:	MP3 CD
Available Formats :	Retail CD, MP3 CD
Category:	Fiction/Literary
Publisher:	Blackstone Publishing	Publisher:	Blackstone Publishing
CDs:	3	CDs:	1
ISBN:	9781538400203	ISBN:	9781538400302
Audience:	Adult
Language:	English

Ghachar Ghochar

Summary

Summary

Editorial Reviews

Editorial Reviews

Reviews