Ravan and Eddie

“Wicked, magical, hilarious, enduring: A masterpiece from one of world literature’s great cult writers.” —Katherine Boo, author of Behind the Beautiful Forevers

“The novel, recently named by the Guardian one of the ten best books about Mumbai, centers on two boys: Ravan, a Hindu, and Eddie, a Roman Catholic, who grow up on different floors of a crowded chawl housing unit, and whose lives are serendipitously linked from infancy. Nagarkar chronicles the boys’ comic and ribaldrous coming-of-age adventures in post-colonial India, and punctuates his story digressions on a selection of lively subjects, from Hindi romantic comedies to skin-lightening creams.” —’Page-Turner’ blog, The New Yorker

“A first-rate novel… Kiran Nagarkar is a born story-teller with an unerring eye for detail, skilled in the use of words and an artist of the erotica.  He will go very far.” – Khushwant Singh, India Today
 
“Kiran Nagarkar’s second novel (is) insouciant, savage, disarming and profound… (His) imagery has the quality of switch-blades flickering in the dark alley of the narrative. (His) humour is dark, but passionate.” – Manjula Padmanabhan, The Asian Age
 
“[Ravan and Eddie is] one of the wittiest, bawdiest, most perceptive books in contemporary Indian English literature.” – Prem Panicker, The Sunday Observer
 
“Kiran Nagarkar is totally unpredictable, and reading his books is like taking a roller-coaster ride for the imagination… (His) use of language recognizes no barriers, and flows over, through and around the reader, engulfing him  in a torrent of fantastic images… (His) lively imagination is like a force of light, touching now this problem, now that. His digressions are perhaps the best part of the book.” – Usha Hemmadi, Indian Express
 
“This is the hilarious story of Ravan, a Maratha Hindu, and Eddie, a Roman Catholic, growing up to adolescence on the different floors of the CWD chawl No 17 in Bombay… Nagarkar writes so honestly and effectively that he has brought out the smell of the fish and the urine of the chawls right into our drawing rooms.” – The Tribune (Chandigarh, India)

“Ravan and Eddie compels attention. The sheer power, vigour and imaginative lusciousness of the narration possess a stunning visual quality.” – The Telegraph (Calcutta)