Story-Wallah: Short Fiction from South Asian Writers

by Shyam Selvadurai

Book Overview

Writers of South Asian descent have been garnering more and more success, acclaim, and attention. Story-Wallah gathers the finest South Asian voices in fiction for the first time in a single volume. As Shyam Selvadurai writes in his introduction, The stories jostle up against each other . . . The effect is a marvelous cacophony that reminds me of . . . one of those South Asian bazaars, a bargaining, carnival-like milieu. The goods on sale in this...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618576800
• ISBN13: 9780618576807
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 438 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Story-Wallah

I am fascinated by cultures outside the U.S., particularly those of Asian, S. Asian & Middle Eastern countries where "arranged marriages" are still the norm & remain so in the 21st century. I wish to understand the pros & cons of these marriages and the empowerment of women in these cultures...where the power may lie "hidden"...utilized in sublte ways unseen by those looking in from the outside & those within. Well written short stories make for excellent bedtime reading!

This book contains the best of the best, East to West of South Asian writers - PERIOD.

I picked this book up over the weekend and have not been able to put it down. I refuse! While I know that I should savor each story, I must greedily read them all as soon as possible because never before has such exquisite South Asian writing been compiled, and you will feel compelled to take it with you everywhere you go. The introduction written by the editor is beautiful and shows his passion for the written word, is very honest and also gives a brief yet impressively detailed history of the region for those of us who are not natives, and the stories chosen represent writers and people from all over the world. One minute you're in Trinidad on a sugar plantation, the next in a wealthy home in South Africa. Some are side-splittingly funny, others sad, others very poignant. Included is the perfect introduction to Salman Rushdie if you're unfamiliar with his work; it often seems daunting but now I feel ready to read more. You'll feel the same way about the other authors included in this collection, so be sure to keep a pen and paper handy because you will be ordering more of everything that you find here...each story is a rich literary truffle that seduces you, makes you come to this very site and order everything you can possibly find. Good thing most of them can be found here. That is all.