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Funny Boy

A Novel in Six Stories

Shyam Selvadurai

$24.99

Paperback

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English
Vintage
19 May 2020
'An extraordinarily powerful, deeply moving novel' Amitav Ghosh

'An extraordinarily powerful, deeply moving novel' Amitav Ghosh

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In the world of his large family - affluent Tamils living in Colombo - Arjie is an oddity, a 'funny boy' who prefers dressing as a girl to playing cricket with his brother.

But as Arjie comes to terms with his own homo-sexuality and with the racism of the society in which he lives, Sri Lanka is plunged into civil war as fighting between the army and the Tamil Tigers gradually begins to encroach on the family's comfortable life. Sporadic acts of violence flare into full scale riots and lead, ultimately, to tragedy.

Written in clear, simple prose, Shyam Selvadurai's first novel is masterly in its mingling of the personal and political.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY NEEL MUKHERJEE
By:  
Imprint:   Vintage
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 198mm,  Width: 129mm,  Spine: 20mm
Weight:   233g
ISBN:   9781529110746
ISBN 10:   1529110742
Pages:   336
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Shyam Selvadurai was born in 1965 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He left Sri Lanka after the 1983 riots in Colombo and settled with his family in Canada. He lives in Toronto.

Reviews for Funny Boy: A Novel in Six Stories

The unadorned and simple prose has elegance and great sophistication. Moreover, Selvadurai has a genius for touching a nerve with a feather-light touch... A powerful and beautifully written novel * Literary Review * Exquisitely written...superb * Independent * At first sight an innocently observed portrait of Tamil family life in seventies Sri Lanka, it metamorphosed into a lucid, serious piece of writing... Selvadurai's world is delightful, frightening, important and he describes it with touching clarity... His novel is a graceful and intelligent account of the random nature of growing up * Observer * A quiet masterpiece * Gay Times * Glittering and wise... Funny Boy keeps repeating that the human condition can, in spite of everything, be joyful. You are not alone, it says to the reader. I understand you. I too was there. I remember -- Alberto Manguel Selvadurai writes as sensitively about the emotional intensity of adolescence as he does about the wonder of childhood * New York Times Book Review * An extaordinarily powerful, deeply moving novel -- Amitav Ghosh


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