Anosh Irani's Books

Dahanu Road

A novel

By: Anosh Irani

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“The only statement of revolt the poor could make was to put an end to their own misery. It happened all the time—men lay themselves on train tracks, hanged themselves from trees, consumed rat poison, and women set their kerosene-soaked bodies alight in front of their husbands. These were blazing ends to insignificant journeys. But in all this, there was always one man who, in that final gush of blood, in that final breaking of neck and bone, set things in motion.” Zairos Irani, a young man of inherited leisure, is meandering through his family’s lush chickoo orchards near Mumbai when he comes across a distressing sight: Hanging from one of the fruit trees is the lifeless body of Ganpat, a worker from the indigenous Warli tribe. Ganpat’s ancestors once owned the land, before his father’s alcohol debts caused the deed to be transferred to Zairos’s grandfather Shapur. The two family destinies have been entwined ever since, ancient grudges once again awoken by Ganpat’s final desperate act. Zairos feels obliged to notify Ganpat’s family before the authorities come to ask needless questions and extract bribes. A tractor bearing Ganpat’s sister and anguished daughter Kusum soon trundles into the orchard, and when Kusum alights, Zairos’s curiosity is piqued. As a landowner, he knows that he is well above her station, and yet her dignity and beauty lead him to cast aside taboos and risk the wagging tongues of neighbourhood gossips. Though wary at first, the grieving Kusum comes to return his affection, asking only that he assist her in achieving what her dead father could not- by putting an end to the violence she has endured at the hands of a drunken husband. Zairos cannot get advice from his father Aspi, whose clownishness masks thinly-veiled nihilism. Nor can he confide in his beloved grandfather Shapur, whose massive hands planted the chickoo trees that he adores as much as his own sons. Shapur built the family empire from a desperate start as an orphaned refugee, and any act that might threaten the delicate legacy spawned by his sacrifices would only provoke rage in the old man, who increasingly dwells in memories. So Zairos whiles away his time at Anna’s, the local haunt for the male leisure class, dreaming of a future with Kusum. There, with the support of some equally underemployed sidekicks, Zairos hatches a scheme to scare Kusum’s husband into releasing her, while keeping his own moral integrity intact. But alas, Zairos’s scheme will not unfold as planned, and along the way he will unwittingly expose family secrets that may well be better left buried… With brilliant gusto, Irani has built his Dahanu Road upon the pathways forged by authors of tragicomic romance spanning centuries and continents, from the Persian classic Layla and Majnun, to Romeo and Juliet or Wuthering Heights. Dahanu Road is a suspense-filled family saga, a sprawling romantic epic in which the delineations between the oppressor and the oppressed, or between love and hate, are demonstrated to be maddeningly deceptive.

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Page Count

322

Publisher

Doubleday Canada

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307374734

ISBN 13

9780307374738

The Cripple And His Talismans

By: Anosh Irani

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The Cripple And His Talismans

By: Anosh Irani

A highly imaginative novel, full of humour, poetry and insights, written in a beautiful, sparse style' -Yann Martel Prepare to enter a world where the norms of human behaviour and morality - even the rules governing time and gravity - are turned upside down. Set in the teeming city of contemporary Bombay, this comic and vibrant tale begins with a young man in search of his missing arm. Each person he meets offers him a clue: a woman who sells rainbows; a coffin maker who builds tiny caskets; a giant who lives under water - all lead him to Baba Rakhu, the master of the underworld and the only one who can reveal the meaning of his predicament. With humour and ingenuity, Anosh Irani has crafted a bold story that is as much about loss as it is about the presence of faith in a world that can be as cruel as it can be forgiving.

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Page Count

171

Publisher

Harper Collins

Published Date

ISBN 10

9350299631

ISBN 13

9789350299630

The Song of Kahunsha

By: Anosh Irani

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The Song of Kahunsha

By: Anosh Irani

From one of Canada’s brightest new literary stars – a startling and beautiful novel about abandonment, poverty, and violence, as well as loyalty, love, and hope, as seen through the eyes of a young homeless boy. It is 1993 and Bombay is on the verge of being torn apart by racial violence. Ten-year-old Chamdi has rarely ventured outside his orphanage, and entertains an idyllic fantasy of what the city is like beyond its garden walls – a paradise he calls Kahunsha, “the city of no sadness.” But when he runs away to search for his long-lost father, he finds himself thrust into the chaos of the streets, alone, possessing only the blood-stained cloth he was left in as a baby. There Chamdi meets Sumdi and Guddi, brother and sister who beg in order to provide for their sick mother, and the three become fast friends. Fueled only by a desire to find his father and the dream that Bombay will someday become Kahunsha, Chamdi struggles for survival on its brutal streets. But when he is caught up in the beginnings of the savage violence that will soon engulf the city, his dreams confront reality. Moving, poignant, and wonderfully rich in the sights and sounds of Bombay, The Song of Kahunsha is a compelling story of hopes and dreams, and of the fragility of childhood innocence.

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Page Count

322

Publisher

Anchor Canada

Published Date

ISBN 10

0307373371

ISBN 13

9780307373373

The Parcel

By: Anosh Irani

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The Parcel

By: Anosh Irani

This powerful work about a transgender sex worker in the red-light district of Bombay who is given an unexpected task, is a gripping literary page-turner--difficult and moving, surprising and tender. The Parcel's astonishing heart, soul and unforgettable voice is Madhu--born a boy, but a eunuch by choice--who has spent most of her life in a close-knit clan of transgender sex workers in Kamathipura, the notorious red-light district of Bombay. Madhu identifies herself as a "hijra"--a person belonging to the third sex, neither here nor there, man nor woman. Now, at 40, she has moved away from prostitution, her trade since her teens, and is forced to beg to support the charismatic head of the hijra clan, Gurumai. One day Madhu receives a call from Padma Madam, the most feared brothel owner in the district: a "parcel" has arrived--a young girl from the provinces, betrayed and trafficked by her aunt--and Madhu must prepare it for its fate. Despite Madhu's reluctance, she is forced to take the job by Gurumai. As Madhu's emotions spiral out of control, her past comes back to haunt her, threatening to unravel a lifetime's work and identity.

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Page Count

306

Publisher

Vintage Canada

Published Date

ISBN 10

0345816757

ISBN 13

9780345816757

The Men in White

By: Anosh Irani

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The Men in White

By: Anosh Irani

A finalist for the Governor General’s Award for Drama, The Men in White explores urgent themes surrounding the complexities of the modern immigrant experience, Islamophobia, and the unifying power of sport — the masterful playwright and novelist Anosh Irani at his finest. Eighteen-year-old Hasan Siddiqui lives in a bustling Muslim quarter of Bombay. He escapes the drudgery of his work at a chicken slaughterhouse by fostering two fervent dreams — to become a star in cricket, a sport at which he happens to excel, and to win the affections of Haseena, a fiercely intelligent young woman two years his junior. Half a world away in Vancouver, Hasan’s older brother, Abdul, has been working under the table at an Indian restaurant, attempting to set down roots with the hope of one day reuniting with his brother. For Abdul the immigrant dream shows little sign of materializing, but he finds solace in his amateur cricket team. When he and the team’s captain decide to take action to end their losing streak, they talk of recruiting the talented Hasan for the rest of the season. But bringing Hasan from India to Canada will take much more than just a plane ticket, and rising tensions demonstrate that not all members of the team agree with the high cost.

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Page Count

174

Publisher

House of Anansi

Published Date

ISBN 10

1487004745

ISBN 13

9781487004743

Behind the Moon

By: ANOSH. IRANI

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Behind the Moon

By: ANOSH. IRANI

A new play from award-winning playwright and novelist Anosh Irani In a Mughlai restaurant in Toronto, a late-night visit from a mysterious stranger rattles the cage and shatters the peace. Now Ayub must face reality, the family he's left behind, and the dreams he's abandoned, all while keeping the restaurant clean to a mirror shine. Behind the Moon is a painfully beautiful story of love and loss, freedom and faith, the meaning of brotherhood, and how we begin a new life.

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ISBN 10

1772016381

ISBN 13

9781772016383

Buffoon

By: Anosh Irani

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Buffoon

By: Anosh Irani

Three-time Governor General’s Literary Award–shortlisted author and playwright Anosh Irani’s critically acclaimed one-man show Buffoon is a masterclass of tragicomic theatre. Born to circus folk who prefer trapezing over parenting, Felix quickly learns to turn life’s misfortunes into jokes. His longing for family and home is piqued at the tender age of seven when he falls hopelessly in love with an older woman, the beguiling Aja, who is eight. In the process, a clown is born, and we watch him grow into a middle-aged buffoon. Over time, Felix stops waiting for someone else to love him; his journey becomes one of loving himself. A story of love, loss, and the fate that binds us, Buffoon is a gut-wrenching one-man show that expertly walks the tightrope between heartbreak and hilarity.

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House of Anansi

Published Date

ISBN 10

1487009844

ISBN 13

9781487009847

The Bombay Plays

By: Anosh Irani

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The Bombay Plays

By: Anosh Irani

From renowned author Anosh Irani comes an updated edition of The Bombay Plays featuring two plays that explore the depths of the back alleys of Bombay.

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ISBN 10

1770917667

ISBN 13

9781770917668

Translated from the Gibberish

Seven Stories and One Half Truth

By: Anosh Irani

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Translated from the Gibberish

Seven Stories and One Half Truth

By: Anosh Irani

Here are seven superb, subtle, surprising stories that show, through a prism of unforgettable characters, what it means to live between two worlds: India and Canada. Anosh Irani, the masterful, bestselling author of The Parcel and The Song of Kahunsha, knows of what he writes: Twenty years ago, to the mystification of family and friends, Irani left India for Vancouver, Canada, a city and a country completely foreign to him. His plan was both grand and impractical: he would reinvent himself as a writer. Miraculously, he did just that, publishing critically acclaimed novels and plays set in his beloved hometown of Mumbai. But this uprooting did not come without a steep price--one that Irani for the first time directly explores in this book. In these stunning stories and one "half truth" (a semi-fictional meditation on the experience of being an immigrant) we meet a swimming instructor determined to reenact John Cheever's iconic short story "The Swimmer" in the pools of Mumbai; a famous Indian chef who breaks down on a New York talk show; a gangster's wife who believes a penguin at the Mumbai zoo is the reincarnation of her lost child; an illegal immigrant in Vancouver who plays a fateful game of cricket; and a kindly sweets-shop owner whose hope for a new life in Canada leads to a terrible choice. The book starts and ends with a gorgeous, emotionally raw "translation" to the page of the author's own life between worlds, blurring the line between fiction and fact. Translated from the Gibberish confirms Anosh Irani as a unique, inventive, vitally important voice in contemporary fiction.

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Page Count

191

Publisher

Knopf Canada

Published Date

ISBN 10

0735278539

ISBN 13

9780735278530

Book's by Anosh Irani

Dahanu Road

Dahanu Road

The Cripple And His Talismans

The Cripple And His Talismans

The Song of Kahunsha

The Song of Kahunsha

The Parcel

The Parcel

The Men in White

The Men in White

Behind the Moon

Behind the Moon

Buffoon

Buffoon

The Bombay Plays

The Bombay Plays

Translated from the Gibberish

Translated from the Gibberish

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