From the publisher:
The beloved cult novel—about a young man who makes a business of relaying messages from the dead—now in a sparkling English translation.
Translated by Sunandini Banerjee
"An astonishing novel, zany, terrifying, and liberating in equal measure, by a writer who was a visionary. Bhattacharya’s voice is wholly original: lyrical, melancholic, comic, and bracingly obscene: a book that explodes in your hands."
—Siddhartha Deb
Poor, hard-luck Harbart Sarkar—born into a fancy Calcutta family but cursed from birth. Orphaned as a baby, he is taken into his uncle’s house, only to fall further and further down the family totem pole. Despite his native talents and good looks (with his “Hollywood-ish air, Leslie Howard-ish air”), he is scorned by all but his kind aunt. Poor Harbart: so lovable but so little loved. Cheated of his inheritance, living on the roof in hand-me-down clothing, he pines for love, but all is woe: his own nephews beat him up. Suddenly, however, he seems to possess the gift of speaking with the dead. Harbart is bathed in glory. From less than zero to starry heights—what an apotheosis. But then the wheel of fortune turns again...
Now in sparkling English, Harbart—scathingly satiric, wildly energetic, and yet deeply tender—is a beloved cult novel of Calcutta.
112 pages. 5" x 8". Softcover.
