Diamond Dust

In this her latest collection of stories Anita Desai expands her geographical and cultural terrain and, with her customary skill and an often sly, but tender wit, homes in on the little and larger pinpricks of daily life.

SKU0099289644
Diamond Dust

Overview

Diamond Dust

By Anita Desai

Anita Desai, in a succession of fine novels and short story collections written over almost 40 years, was one of the first writers from the sub-continent to introduce western readers to post-Independence India. In this, her latest collection of stories, she expands her geographical and cultural terrain and, with her customary skill and an often sly, but tender wit, homes in on the little and larger pinpricks of daily life.

In "Winterscape", a quietly haunting tale, two Punjabi village women try to make sense of the chilly world inside and outside a snowy Toronto window; in several other stories it is summer heat that becomes the catalyst. An ageing couple are stuck in a stultifying Delhi by the visit of an old Oxford friend, who trades on his charm; the family in "Five Hours to Simla", caught up in a road-raging traffic jam, are distracted by a perambulating Universe of hawkers, beggars and hungry curs; a scorcher of an evening on the Cornish coast causes a young couple nothing but misery; young Polly at summer camp in Massachusetts, has fallen under the thrall of Art in the form of her Art teacher, until her Miss Jean Brodie enthusiasm takes on the disturbing shape of Miss Mabel Dodd.

Desai's wonderfully deft characterisation and telling dialogue, and the visual precision of her small-scale worlds--little absurdities of manner and mood, small acts of cruelty, intentionally crossed lines, the unheard of cries for attention--are what give her work such pleasure and humane significance. If occasionally the plot lines become too strained, this weakness is more than compensated for by the sheer affectionate regard in which she defines the frailties and expectations of her characters. Ruth Petrie

Desai writes exquisitely, with wit and delicacy, charm and compassion about ordinary lives in a disconcerting world.

Old relationships stir up buried resentments, a beloved dog causes havoc, a businessman away from home sees his own death, and freedom springs in surprising ways. In this brilliant new collection of stories, Anita Desai takes us to where hopes and dreams clash with disappointment and the human spirit shines strongly from India to Canada and New England, from Cornwall to Mexico.
Reviews:

“Exquisite...these stories sparkle with the fire of real diamonds.” –The Times

“Anita Desai is one of the most brilliant and subtle writers ever to have described the meeting of eastern and western culture.” –Alison Lurie

“Unsentimental, dazzling, funny and achingly sad.” –Literary Review

“Contemporary Indian fiction writers are among the finest in the world, and Desai at her best, as she is throughout this collection, has deservedly won her place alongside them.” –Irish Times

“All her stories are full of a confidence in human nature that is a rarity and a pleasure to encounter.” –The Spectator

Synopsis:

A collection of stories where the protagonists set out on journeys and find themselves suddenly beyond the pale, or back where they started from. A beloved dog brings chaos, old relationships stir up buried resentments and a businessman sees his own death.


About the Author :Anita Desai was born and educated in India. Her novels Fasting, Feasting, Clear Light of Day and In Custody, were all shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In Custody was filmed by Merchant Ivory Productions. Anita Desai is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the American Academy of Arts and Letters as well as a Fellow of Girton College, Cambridge. She teaches in the Writing Program at MIT and is currently a Visiting Fellow at Balliol College, Oxford. She divides her time between India, Massachusetts, and England.

Author: Anita Desai

ISBN: 0099289644

Size: 12.8cm X 19.9cm

Pages: 207

Price: Rs.428/-

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Features

Packing Weight
0.25 kg
Author
Anita Desai
Publisher
VINTAGE
Page count
207
Rs.385.50
Rs.428
0099289644

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