Maupassant and a Cigar: An Intimate Biography of Pudumaipithan

The life of a literary giant, equally lauded and criticized…
Pudumaipithan (1906 -1948) is widely regarded as one of the
greatest writers of short stories in Tamil, and as the harbinger
of literary modernism in the language. He is remembered for
having revolutionized Tamil prose into a medium through which
he approached the lives and emotions of subaltern urban and rural
characters, with a distinctly modern sensibility.
This biography, written immediately after Pudumaipithan’s death, by
someone very close to him, remains the most authentic biography
of the writer till date. Translated into vivid, conversational English
by Peer Mohamed Azees, this quirkily structured biography captures
Pudumaipithan’s brilliance as well as his steadfast unwillingness,
indeed inability, to compromise; his endearing addiction to betel
leaves, as well as his rigorous skepticism towards every shade of
ideological hypocrisy.