In Other Rooms, Other Wonders

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders

by Daniyal Mueenuddin (Author)

Synopsis

The linked stories in In Other Rooms, Other Wonders illuminate a place and a people as they describe the overlapping worlds of an extended Pakistani landowning family: the servants and dependents in Mr. K.K. Harouni's overflowing Lahore household, the peasants on his estates who rely on his favor, and the parallel world of his industrialist brother, who has distanced himself from the feudal past. Inextricably bound to each other, the characters confront the advantages and constraints of station, the dissolution of old ways, and the shock of change. A girl, a socialite from a decayed feudal family, tires of endless parties, of drinking and drugs, and marries a young landlord in an attempt to reinvent herself. A light-fingered electrician who by tricks and ingenuity supports his twelve daughters comes perilously close to losing all that he has worked for. Elsewhere, an aged laborer by a stroke of luck earns enough money to marry a young, mentally disturbed girl - who vanishes soon after the wedding, exposing the old man to charges of murder.These richly textured stories reveal - at times humorously, at times tragically - the complexities of Pakistani class and culture, as they describe the loves, triumphs, misunderstandings and tragedies of this diverse group of characters. In Other Rooms, Other Wonders marks the arrival of a major new literary talent.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 256
Edition: UK First Edition; 1st printing.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Published: 06 Apr 2009

ISBN 10: 0747597138
ISBN 13: 9780747597131
Book Overview: Will appeal to fans of The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany (35,000 copies through Nielsen BookScan), A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry andThe Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz Two stories have been published in the New Yorker A story from this collection, 'Our Lady of Paris', was nominated for a National Magazine Award and Granta will run 'Provide, Provide' in their January 2009 Fathers issue. Salman Rushdie has chosen one of these stories as part of his Best American Short Stories collection
Prizes: Winner of Commonwealth Writers' Prize Best First Book - Eurasia 2010. Shortlisted for Ondaatje Prize 2010.

Media Reviews
'A stunning achievement a writer of enormous ambition, and he has the prodigious talent to match.' Mohsin Hamid 'An astonishing collection of tales' William Dalrymple 'This is a debut as auspicious as Jhumpa Lahiri's. From the outset there is something arresting, beautiful, or wise on every single page. I can hardly believe this book exists - it's so remarkable, I admire it so deeply' Nadeem Aslam 'His stories unfold with the authenticity and resolute momentum of timeless classics' Manil Suri
Author Bio
Daniyal Mueenuddin graduated from Dartmouth College and Yale Law School. After winning a Fulbright scholarship to study in Norway, he practiced law in New York before returning to Kh npur, Pakistan to manage the family farm. He divides his time between Cairo and Pakistan. Stories in this collection have appeared in the New Yorker, Granta and Salman Rushdie's Best American Short Story collection. 'Our Lady of Paris' was nominated for a National Magazine Award.