Praise for Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard:
A New York Times Editor's Choice
A San Francisco Chronicle Editor's Recommendation
"Desai is a lavish, sharp-eyed fabulist whose send-up of small-town culture cuts to the heart of human perversity."
-The New Yorker
"Delectable…with this sprightly first novel, Kiran Desai takes her place among the pack of gifted young Indian writers."
-The Wall Street Journal
"Giddily irreverent…In crackling, witty, sharply visual prose, Desai mocks pious enthusiasm, official incompetence, domestic confusion, young love, marriage customs, sacred monkeys, and a few subsidiary targets. She is a delightfully funny, amiable satirist."
-Atlantic Monthly
"A voice and a huge imagination leap from the pages of [this] dizzying Hindi film of a novel."
-Zia Jaffrey, The New York Times
"Clearly envisioned and opulently told…Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard is as memorable as its title. With it, Desai joins the ranks of Anglo-Indian writers who have energized English literature with their imaginative, complex storytelling."
-Tammie Bob, Chicago Tribune
"Streamlined and imaginative prose…a clever, haunting parable…remarkably complex characters, unpredictable plot twists, and vivid descriptions…a spectacularly fresh vision."
-Reena Jana, San Francisco Chronicle
"A charming, lyrical fable about destiny and the nature of kinship."
-Harper's Bazaar
"Brilliantly funny and beautifully written…Desai neatly skewers the posturing of a caste-ridden society…but with enormous charm, even love.…a truly delightful read."
-Meir Ronnen, The Jerusalem Post
"Wryly hilarious-a roller-coaster ride through the nonsense of chance and human foolishness."
-The Oregonian
"So fresh and funny and delicious is [Desai's] book that it defies comparison.…Wonderfully accessible to non-Indians…the writing is, throughout, almost effortless and is exquisitely observant.…A welcome, delightful must."
-Andrew Robinson, The Times (London)
"A wild, sad, humorous story…Desai's novel is full of wonderfully portrayed characters and beautifully vivid descriptions…An unqualified pleasure to read."
-Library Journal
"More than just a hullabaloo…What seems merely to be the lead-in to a good laugh and nothing more actually lingers, leaving questions that are, for all their familiarity, no less profound."
-Lise Funderberg, Newsday
"There is so much to admire in this charming book, dainty in its construction but ballasted by real emotion, that to call Desai a young writer of promise would do her a disservice. On this showing she is already a finished article."
-The Sunday Telegraph (UK)
"An exuberant romp full of whimsy, humor, and affectionate satire. [Desai's] artful magic realism coupled with her lyrical prose makes for unusually bracing reading.…With her lush prose and extraordinary gift for playfulness, Desai is a refreshing voice."
-Alicia Metcalf Miller, The Plain Dealer
"Desai…is a dazzling literati…[Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchara] brings to mind the books of Gabriel García Márquez, including Love in the Time of Cholera."
-The India Monitor
"This is a beguiling novel, fresh and funny and warmhearted."
-Roxana Robinson, author of Cost and Sweetwater
"A hullabaloo of a debut from a vibrant, creative imagination."
-Gita Mehta, author of A River Sutra
"A delicious blend of humor and magic, hilarity and wisdom-and unexpected poetry. Kiran Desai's language will continue to delight you long after you turn the last page."
-Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, author of Arranged Marriage and The Mistress of Spices
"Desai's first novel is a feast for the senses. Atually, it is a buffet, an all-you-can-eat affair that bombards the reader from start to finish with a glowingly layered tapestry of noise, visual images, and tactile impressions one can feel and smell just by turning the pages of this farcical romp."
-Danna Greenfield, The Commercial Appeal (Memphis)
"Kiran Desai has two remarkable gifts-comedy and fantasy. Add to this a flair for storytelling and you have the uproarious, whimsical, and occasionally stinging Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard."
-Bhaswati Chakravorty, The Telegraph Calcutta
"Resonates with old-world charm and new-world noises…[Desai] spins a hilarious tale with a smattering of Rushdiesque flourish.…[A] novel throbbing with the innocence of life and the complexities of living."
-India Today
"Events threaten, delightfully, to spin out of control, like a Peter Sellers movie in which everyone is sedate and nicely dressed, but before you know it the baby elephant is in the swimming pool and people are cavorting in giant soapsuds. Desai's mayhem…is detailed in delightful specificity."
-Emily Hall, The Seattle Weekly
"Beautifully crafted…Desai clearly has a gift for writing farce, and there is plenty to laugh at here."
- The Daily Telegraph (UK)
"Dazzling style…[Desai] demonstrates wonderful satirical insight into human vanities and foibles that transcend culture. And she writes a mean sentence. You don't just read her words, you hear them."
-Sandra Scofield, The Oregonian
"Beautiful…a masterful blending of the unexpected…Told in gorgeous, sensual prose, steeped in humor and wisdom."
-Didi Enslow, Chicago Life
HULLABALOO IN THE GUAVA ORCHARD
Also by Kiran Desai
The Inheritance of Loss
For my family
with love
