White Man Falling - Hardcover
This winner of the Goss First Novel Award 2006 is a tale of domestic catastrophe, accidental crime-busting, deluded matchmaking, and mystical absurdity set in a small town in South India. Police sub-inspector Swami has lost his job after suffering a stroke while beating up a Very Guilty Suspect. He can no longer talk properly, command the respect of his community, or give his six daughters the bankrupting dowries they deserve and his wife is obsessed with securing the Most Expensive Husbands in India. No wonder Swami has lost his pride and wants to kill himself using only a puncture repair kit. Surely a man in these circumstances has good reason to feel cursed when a white man falls out of the sky and lands on him in a busy street, dying in front of his eyes and making him a laughing stock. But as further strange incidents occur, Swami’s hometown starts to believe he is walking with God, and life becomes easier. Mike Stocks’s comic tour de force brilliantly exemplifies how sometimes in life meaningless events can produce meaningful effects.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author:
Mike Stocks writes novels, children’s books, poetry, and translations, and has worked both as a lexicographer and as an editor for several British publishers. He is the founder and editor of Anon, the anonymous submissions poetry magazine.
Review:
"That rare and wondrous thing a perfectly realized serious comic novel. That it is also a first novel makes it all the more extraordinary." Sarah Dunant, author, The Birth of Venus
"It is the precision and originality of Mike Stocks's prose that makes this tragicomedy of Indian manners hard to put down and a joy to pick up." The Spectator
"A warm-hearted comedy . . . Stocks’s poetic background . . . manifests itself in beautiful turns of phrase . . . and in the interweaving of Indian English throughout the text. There is a vogue in contemporary fiction for leaping between characters and timeframes like a flea seeking a tasty host. White Man Falling is a reminder that a single location and perspective, and linear chronology, can be deeply satisfying." The Times
"The writing is witty and engaging . . . an entertaining read, with all the ingredients of a comedy of errors confusion, deluded matchmaking, mystical absurdity. There are underlying metaphors, but the book is essentially a satire of the search for meaning in the meaningless." The New Statesman
"A witty and occasionally lyrical novel." The Melbourne Age
"It is the precision and originality of Mike Stocks's prose that makes this tragicomedy of Indian manners hard to put down and a joy to pick up." The Spectator
"A warm-hearted comedy . . . Stocks’s poetic background . . . manifests itself in beautiful turns of phrase . . . and in the interweaving of Indian English throughout the text. There is a vogue in contemporary fiction for leaping between characters and timeframes like a flea seeking a tasty host. White Man Falling is a reminder that a single location and perspective, and linear chronology, can be deeply satisfying." The Times
"The writing is witty and engaging . . . an entertaining read, with all the ingredients of a comedy of errors confusion, deluded matchmaking, mystical absurdity. There are underlying metaphors, but the book is essentially a satire of the search for meaning in the meaningless." The New Statesman
"A witty and occasionally lyrical novel." The Melbourne Age
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherAlma Books
- Publication date2006
- ISBN 10 1846880092
- ISBN 13 9781846880094
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages296
- Rating
Buy New
Learn more about this copy
US$ 10.00
Shipping:
US$ 7.00
From Canada to U.S.A.
Other Popular Editions of the Same Title
Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace
Stock Image
White Man Falling
Published by
Alma Books, U. K.
(2006)
ISBN 10: 1846880092
ISBN 13: 9781846880094
New
Hardcover
First Edition
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Dust Jacket Condition: New. 1st Edition. 296 Pages. Inscribed by Author(s). Book. Seller Inventory # 040873
Buy New
US$ 10.00
Convert currency
Seller Image
WHITE MAN FALLING+++UK UNCORRECTED PROOF COPY+++ WINNER OF GOSS FIRST NOVEL AWARD+++FIRST EDITION FIRST PRINT+++
Published by
ALMA BOOKS LTD, RICHMOND, SURREY, UK
(2006)
ISBN 10: 1846880092
ISBN 13: 9781846880094
New
Soft cover
First Edition
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Soft cover. Condition: New. Dust Jacket Condition: New. 1st Edition. A CLEAN AND TIGHT FIRST EDITION FIRST PRINT UK UNCORRECTED PROOF COPY OF WHITE MAN FALLING BY MIKE STOCKS. ALL BOOKS ARE DESPATCHED SECURELY WRAPPED IN BUBBLE WRAP AND A STRONG CARDBOARD BOX. Seller Inventory # 000238
Buy New
US$ 25.76
Convert currency