In Odysseus Abroad, Amit Chaudhuri charts a day in the life of two Indian men—a twenty-two-year-old student trying (and failing) at being a poet and his bachelor uncle, who has been living in genteel poverty for nearly three decades—as they explore London, the city they now call home.
A wistful and beguiling work of fiction, the novel follows nephew and uncle on one of their weekly forays about town, as they ruminate on their situations, the art of living, and each other. Marked by the same sensual richness that is a hallmark of all of Chaudhuri’s work, here is a charming yet candid look at the experiences of the outsider, the struggles of youth and loneliness, and the spiky, needful, sometimes comical, yet ultimately loving connection between two generations.
“Wonderfully funny. . . . Each page notices something freshly, or registers something true.” —James Wood, The New Yorker
“Apart from its comedic delights, this playfully allusive novel . . . with its echoes of Joyce and Homer, [Odysseus Abroad] offers eloquent meditations on family and the fracturing of identity.” —The New York Times
“Luminously intelligent. . . . Odysseus Abroad has placed itself, with erudition and playfulness, on the map of modernism.” Neel Mukherjee, The Guardian
“Touchingly shows the way that those stranded between two cultures build themselves up as the quiet heroes of their lifelong journeys.” —Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal
“Tender. . . . Treated with Chaudhuri’s characteristic eloquence, kindly humour, poet’s gift of observation, and awareness of the redolence of each moment.” —The Independent
“Mercilessly funny. . . . [A] study of alienation, delivered with Chaudhuri’s signature intelligence and reserve. . . . Its riches repay re-reading.” —The Christian Science Monitor
“Chauduri’s writing is so fresh and immediate, and often powerfully observant. . . . He paints the background with a light, sure hand, recreating the atmosphere of London in those post-Falkland days when Mrs Thatcher seemed set to rule for ever.” —Kate Saunders, The Times
“Some passages recall to us a long tradition of energetic prose about London by writers from Sam Selvon to Salman Rushdie . . . I was struck by the precision of the writing.” —Amitava Kumar, Bookforum
“The best book I’ve ever read about the immigrant experience, indeed the colonial experience. . . Profound.” —Wendy Doniger, author of The Hindus: An Alternative History
“Intelligent and funny. . . . Chaudhuri is a master of the inconsequential detail, or rather of describing quotidian, often overlooked details that matter to the character observing or experiencing them, or take on a new consequence in his describing of them.” —London Review of Books
“Charming. . . . A luminous and witty celebration of immigrant life, speaks to anyone who has searched for a place to call home.” —Toronto Star
“An unforgettable walk through London and other worlds by one of our most entertaining and artful writers.” —Deborah Levy, author of Swimming Home
“Incisive and humorous.” —The Sunday Telegraph
“In this stunningly engaging new novel, Naipaul meets Amis? Yes. Joyce visits Thatcher’s England? Yes. But so much more. Wittingly inventive, deeply moving, it’s Chaudhuri’s finest work to date.” —Caryl Phillips, author of In the Falling Snow
“Richly allusive. . . . Filled with wandering and wondering. . . . Engrossing.” —The Observer (UK)
“A wonderful novel which has everything in it—pathos, humour, lyricism, and style—by one of the most remarkable novelists writing today.” —Nadeem Aslam, author of The Blind Man’s Garden
“A little gem not to be missed. . . . Almost unbearably moving and irresistibly hilarious in the space of a sentence.” —Daily Mail
“Both moving and witty. . . . Deftness and lightness of touch highlight Chaudhuri’s subtle understanding of Indian life and preoccupations.” —Financial Times
