Rajeev Balasubramanyam was born in Lancashire and studied at Oxford, Cambridge and Lancaster universities. He is the prize-winning author of In Beautiful Disguises. He has lived in London, Manchester, a remote Suffolk beach, Kathmandu and Hong Kong, where he was a Research Scholar in the Society of Scholars at Hong Kong University. He was a fellow of the Hemera Foundation, for writers with a meditation practice, and has been writer-in-residence at Crestone Zen Mountain Center and the Zen Center of New York City. His journalism and short fiction have appeared in the Washington Post, The Economist, the New Statesman, London Review of Books, Paris Review, McSweeney's and many others. He currently lives and works in Berlin.
Balances satire and self-enlightenment... a surprisingly soulful family tale that echoes Jonathan Franzen's Corrections in its witty exploration of three children trying to free themselves from the influence of their parents -- Ben East * Observer * Rajeev Balasubramanyam gently pokes fun at the modern fondness for positivity, but tells a disarmingly positive story... The writing is elegant and witty and the comedy is always underpinned with humanity; a life without bliss is no life, and the gradual dawning of Chandra's self-awareness is genuinely uplifting -- Kate Saunders * The Times * This brilliant and eloquent novel, which puts into words so many unutterable annoyances, is a sort of Zen satire in which tolerance and understanding mingle with hilarious criticism of contemporary mores. It's a wonderful read -- Wendy Holden * Daily Mail * Chandra is a delightful creation: peevish, intolerant, intellectually exacting, unwittingly eccentric, nerdy, needy let lovable. The book, like its picaresque hero, is a one-off -- Patricia Nicol * Sunday Times * I loved this beautiful beautiful book. It's tender and compassionate, written with exquisite care and verve, and so so SO funny -- Marian Keyes