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Unaccustomed Earth | 
 enlarge | Author: Jhumpa Lahiri
Publisher: Knopf Canada
Category: Book
Buy New: $27.99
New (5) Used (10) Collectible (1) from $19.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  130 reviews
Sales Rank: 420663
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 8.7 x 6 x 1.3
ISBN: 0676979343
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780676979343
ASIN: 0676979343
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: NEW
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Product Description
Knopf Canada is proud to welcome this bestselling, Pulitzer Prize—winning author with eight dazzling stories that take us from Cambridge and Seattle to India and Thailand as they explore the secrets at the heart of family life.
In the stunning title story, Ruma, a young mother in a new city, is visited by her father who carefully tends her garden–where she later unearths evidence of a love affair he is keeping to himself. In “A Choice of Accommodations,” a couple’s romantic getaway weekend takes a dark turn at a party that lasts deep into the night. In “Only Goodness,” a woman eager to give her younger brother the perfect childhood she never had is overwhelmed by guilt, anguish and anger when his alcoholism threatens her family. And in “Hema and Kaushik,” a trio of linked stories–a luminous, intensely compelling elegy of life, death, love and fate–we follow the lives of a girl and boy who, one fateful winter, share a house in Massachusetts. They travel from innocence to experience on separate, sometimes painful paths, until destiny brings them together again years later in Rome.
Unaccustomed Earth is rich with the author’s signature gifts: exquisite prose, emotional wisdom and subtle renderings of the most intricate workings of the heart and mind. It is the work of a writer at the peak of her powers.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 125 more reviews...
 Unaccustomed Earth January 6, 2009
My wife has read this book. She noemally does not like the short-story approach, but this one she thought was very good. We have some friends that were in the same situation and the book really tells the story of trheir problems.
 Good Book with Desis and ABCD's emotions December 31, 2008
This book has multiple stories and each deals with different stages of Desi's life interwined with their American Born Confused Desis(ABCD) or American lived Confused Desis (ALCD) life.
The story "Unaccustomed Earth" deals with the life of an Old Indian man who is settled in America and tries to be live a single independant American life where as his ABCD daughter wants him to be with her as a typical indian culture.
Then the most notable story deals with the rude awakening of the fact that even ABCD's can become drunkards, throw their life over alcohol.
"Kaushik and Me" is a great stroy told from the narrator's point of view regarding the adjustment of life of 2 teenagers who cross each other's life for a brief moment and meet later only to have their heart broken.
The book through stories discusses how Desi's try to assimilate and lose their values( drugs, alcohol and Sex).
Overall a rude awakening to the desis of America.
 Excellent Book December 30, 2008
I don't read much fiction. I made an exception to my usual reading fare after watching The Namesake movie a really long time ago. I actually intended to pick up The Namesake, but seeing it was sold out settled on Unaccustomed Earth.
Jhumpa Lahiri can do things with words that I can only dream about. Fiction and non-fiction, I thought this was the best book I read in 2008.
I thought I would dislike short stories. Many times they give too few details and the stories become easily forgotten. These short stories did not disappoint and will certainly not be easily forgotten.
So rich: like a collection of mini novels December 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am not usually a reader of short stories, but this book defied many of my prejudices. I loved it. Jhumpa Lahiri's writing is beautiful. With just a few paragraphs, she can immerse you in a story so that you end up feeling as satisfied as if you've read an entire novel. She also has a wonderful eye for detail and a way of describing everyday events or objects so you feel that you've never really thought about them in that way before.
There are eight stories in this book. The final three feature the same characters but the others stand alone. However they are all quite similar in that they feature highly educated Bengali Indians living in the US and often in mixed race relationships. There are also similar themes that repeat: learning to move on after losing a loved one or the relationships between parents and their adult children.
While I enjoyed all of the stories in this book, I was particularly moved by the first (Unaccustomed Earth) and the last (Going Ashore). They are the two in which I felt the most involved and really cared about the characters. I felt somewhat detached from the others (hence the 4 star rating). However I still enjoyed them and I recommend this book without hesitation - do not let the fact that it's short stories put you off!
Good sneak peak at a Indian culture December 21, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
It was kind of annoying to read different stories after getting into the character of the each story. Also didnt know that Indians were alcoholics. There is alot of good imagery. And second part is more interesting.
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