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The Legend of Pradeep Mathew: A Novel
Current price:
$18.00
Publication Date: May 8th, 2012
Publisher:
Graywolf Press
ISBN:
9781555976118
Pages:
416
Usually Ships in 1 to 5 Days
Description
Winner of the Commonwealth Book Prize
* Winner of the $50,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature *
* A Publishers Weekly "First Fiction" Pick for Spring 2012 *
"A crazy ambidextrous delight. A drunk and totally unreliable narrator runs alongside the reader insisting him or her into the great fictional possibilities of cricket."--Michael Ondaatje
Aging sportswriter W.G. Karunasena's liver is shot. Years of drinking have seen to that. As his health fades, he embarks with his friend Ari on a madcap search for legendary cricket bowler Pradeep Mathew. En route they discover a mysterious six-fingered coach, a Tamil Tiger warlord, and startling truths about their beloved sport and country. A prizewinner in Sri Lanka, and a sensation in India and Britain, The Legend of Pradeep Mathew by Shehan Karunatilaka is a nimble and original debut that blends cricket and the history of modern Sri Lanka into a vivid and comedic swirl.
Praise for The Legend of Pradeep Mathew: A Novel
“Karunatilaka offers the world a subversively funny, spot-on portrait of one tiny nation addressing its tragedy with humor, kindness and quiet, unwavering courage.” —Seattle Times
“Shehan Karunatilaka's big-hearted, madcap novel reverberates with echoes of A Fan's Notes and Netherland.” —Barnes and Noble Review
“Karunatilaka's rambunctious debut brims with inventive ideas and comic set-pieces. . . . Cricket aficionados will love The Legend of Pradeep Mathew, but Karunatilaka has stuffed his novel so full of life--albeit a crazily inflated version of it--for it to charm and dazzle the rest of us in equal measure.” —Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
“Endearing . . . disguised as a sports story yet it's really about a man's love and disgust for his country.” —Houston Chronicle
“In pursuing the true-or-false legend of a cricketer named Pradeep Mathew, Shehan Karunatilaka brings forth meditations on corruption, politics, terrorism, and colonialism as well as match-fixing and ball-tampering in cricket-obsessed Sri Lanka.” —World Literature Today