Rao, Cheeni In Hanuman's Hands: A Memoir ISBN 13: 9780060736620

In Hanuman's Hands: A Memoir - Hardcover

9780060736620: In Hanuman's Hands: A Memoir
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"I can do nothing more for you. You are now in Hanuman's hands." These are the words author Cheeni Rao hears his Indian immigrant mother sob as he stands locked outside his family home. A brilliant, promising young man who is the product of a devout Hindu family from a long line of Brahmin priests, Rao has been reduced to the life of a homeless drug addict and petty criminal on the back streets of Chicago's Southside.

The freedoms and temptations of life on an elite American college campus send Rao spiraling down into a hedonistic nightmare of drugs, sex, and crime. Desperate and alone, he is visited by Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god his mother evoked, and comes to realize that this unlikely guide may be his last resort. On his long journey to recovery, Rao is guided by visions of this clever, divine monkey, best known from the Indian epic poem, the Ramayana.

In Hanuman's Hands is a gritty, hauntingly beautiful memoir. Bringing India whole-heartedly into America, Rao weaves his own story of Western culture clash with mythic tales of his Hindu ancestors who served in the ancestral temples of Kali. With Hanuman as his loyal companion, the author finds his way back to recovery at a halfway house run by a mug named Tats and shared by an unforgettable gang of streetwise characters. In Hanuman's Hands is a striking debut from a new literary voice.

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About the Author:

Cheeni Rao is a graduate of the University of Chicago as well as the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He is a winner of the Nick Adams Award for fiction and the Olga and Paul Menn Foundation Prize for fiction, and has had many of his stories published in nationally distributed journals. His three plays, Phone, Broken Circle, and Islands, were produced by The Asian Theatre Project, and he has had a screenplay optioned by a major Hollywood studio. He is the founder and owner of The Iowa Book Doctors, an editing firm that edits and ghostwrites manuscripts for publication and conducts online one-on-one instruction on the craft of writing.

Review:
Writer tells of his spiral into drug addiction and how his ‘visions’ of the Hindu monkey god Hanuman helped him find the path to a cure. (USA Today (Recommended Summer Books Issue))

A descendant of generations of Brahmin priests, Cheeni Rao chose a tragic path to enlightenment. His powerful memoir, “In Hanuman’s Hands,” describes in harrowing detail Rao’s troubles with crack addiction and the spiritual awakening that led to his recovery. (Washington Post)

A drug-related memoir that contains any original material whatsoever will stand out, all the more so if eloquent, socially insightful, and laced with self-deprecating humor. Such is the case with In Hanuman’s Hands, by Chicago native Cheeni Rao. (Chicago Sun-Times)

The son of a long line of Brahmin nobility finds a path to hell with drugs and sex. In Hanuman’s Hands is a recovery story enriched by the culture Rao draws on for strength. (New York Daily News)

Here is a fine mind at work . . . It is a story about the pleasures and problems of love and loyalty, and making one’s way in the world to and through difficult crossroads and milestones. In Hanuman’s Hands is a fine piece of work. (Larry Heinemann, National Book Award winner for Paco's Story)

Lyrical, haunting, beguiling, In Hanuman’s Hands goes a long way toward redeeming a dubious genre [recovery memoir]. (Wall Street Journal)

There is so much here that I admire. This is the book I want to read. (Lewis Robinson, author of Officer Friendly and Other Stories)

I enjoyed this tremendously. This is an important, incredible story. (John Murray, author of A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies)

I could go on all day about how impressed I am with this. I gave myself over as a reader and I was richly rewarded. (Lan Samantha Chang, author of Hunger: A Novella and Stories)

I really love this. I think it is absolutely breathtaking, and the scenes he depicts make everything come vibrantly off the page. I can’t wait to see this in print. (Amy Hassinger, author of Nina: Adolescence)

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  • PublisherHarperOne
  • Publication date2009
  • ISBN 10 0060736623
  • ISBN 13 9780060736620
  • BindingHardcover
  • Number of pages416
  • Rating

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