Mirrorwork: 50 Years of Indian Writing 1947-1997

Front Cover
Salman Rushdie, Elizabeth J. West, Elizabeth West
Macmillan, Aug 15, 1997 - Fiction - 553 pages

This unique anthology, Mirrorwork, presents thirty-two selections by Indian authors writing in English over the past half-century. Selected by Salman Rushdie and Elizabeth West, these novel excerpts, stories, and memoirs illuminate wonderful writing by authors often overlooked in the West.

Chronologically arranged to reveal the development of Indian literature in English, this volume includes works by Jawaharlal Nehru, Nayantara Sahgal, Saadat Hasan Manto, G.V. Desani, Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Kamala Markandaya, Mulk Raj Anand, R.K. Narayan, Ved Mehta, Anita Desai, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Satyajit Ray, Salman Rushdie, Padma Perera, Upamanyu Chatterjee, Rohinton Mistry, Bapsi Sidhwa, I. Allan Sealy, Shashi Tharoor, Sara Suleri, Firdaus Kanga, Anjana Appachana, Amit Chaudhuri, Amitav Ghosh, Githa Hariharan, Gita Mehta, Vikram Seth, Vikram Chandra, Ardashir Vakil, Mukul Kesavan, Arundhati Roy, and Kiran Desai.

 

Contents

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU Tryst with Destiny
3
SAADAT HASAN MANTO
25
DESANI All about H Hatterr
32
CHAUDHURI My Birthplace
59
KAMALA MARKANDAYA
79
MULK RAJ ANAND The Liar
94
R K NARAYAN
100
VED MEHTA
107
BAPSI SIDHWA Rannas Story
237
ALLAN SEALY The TrotterNama
250
SHASHI THAROOR A Raj Quartet
284
FIRDAUS KANGA Trying to Grow
315
ANJANA APPACHANA Sharmaji
344
AMIT CHAUDHURI Sandeeps Visit
366
AMITAV GHOSH Nashawy
394
GITA MEHTA The Teachers Story
413

ANITA DESAI Games at Twilight
119
RUTH PRAWER JHABVALA In the Mountains
127
SATYAJIT RAY Big Bill
145
SALMAN RUSHDIE The Perforated Sheet
160
PADMA PERERA Dr Salaam
178
UPAMANYU CHATTERJEE The Assassination of Indira Gandhi
198
ROHINTON MISTRY The Collectors
211
VIKRAM SETH A Suitable Boy
435
VIKRAM CHANDRA Shakti
450
ARDASHIR Vakil Unforced Errors
485
ARUNDHATI ROY Abhilash Talkies
512
KIRAN DESAI Strange Happenings in the Guava Orchard
535
Acknowledgements
551
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About the author (1997)

Salman Rushdie is the author of many acclaimed novels, including Midnight’s Children (winner of the Booker Prize and the Best of the Booker), Grimus, Shame, The Satanic Verses, Haroun and The Sea of Stories, The Moor’s Last Sigh, The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Fury, Shalimar the Clown, The Enchantress of Florence, Luka and the Fire of Life, and Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights—and a collection of short stories: East, West. He has also published works of nonfiction, including Joseph Anton (a memoir of his life under the fatwa issued after the publication of The Satanic Verses), The Jaguar Smile, Imaginary Homelands, and Step Across This Line—and co-edited the anthologies, Mirrorwork and Best American Short Stories. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University. A former president of PEN American Center, Rushdie was knighted in 2007 for services to literature. Elizabeth West is a freelance editor. She is the co-editor with Salmna Rushdie of Mirrorwork: 50 Years of Indian Writing 1947-1997.