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9780151015191 Hardcover
0151015198
$25.00
320pages
Available
Trim Size:
6 x 9
Copyright Year:
2008
Territory:
US, C, O
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Read an Excerpt
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Synopsis |
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Francisco D’Sai is a firstborn son of a firstborn son—all the way back to the beginning of a long line of proud Konkans. Known as the ÒJews of India,Ó the Konkans kneeled before the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama’s sword and before Saint Francis Xavier’s cross, abandoned their Hindu traditions, and became Catholics. In 1973 Francisco’s Konkan father, Lawrence, and American mother, Denise, move to Chicago, where Francisco is born. His father, who does his best to assimilate into American culture, drinks a lot and speaks little. But his mother, who served in the Peace Corps in India, and his uncle Sam (aka Samuel Erasmus D’Sai) are passionate raconteurs who do their best to preserve the family’s Konkan heritage. Friends, allies, and eventually lovers, Sam and Denise feed Francisco’s imagination with proud visions of India and Konkan history.
Filled with romance, comedy, and masterful storytelling, The Konkans leaves us surprised by what secrets history may hold for us if only we wonder enough to look.
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Praise |
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"The author, a savvy storyteller with a clear, soulful voice, just knows good source material when he lives it. What he has created--with an appealingly unfashionable simplicity--is a rich, warm, personal yarn... there are so many terrific vignettes to squeeze in... [A]n affectionate exploration of personal identity in order to make sense of conflicting parts--and thus become whole in a multicultural world. In this Age of Obama, the search couldn't be more timely, nor the result more gratifying. A-"
Entertainment Weekly,2/1/2008
"D'Souza's compelling tale of one extended family's trials and triumphs in a foreign land is an astute glimpse of the challenges, dangers, and rewards of assimilation...He recounts his family's history with a soft heart and a wry, detached tone, unquestioning and accepting of their flaws as well as their accomplishments."
The Boston Globe,3/18/2008
"Every page yields its pleasures--D'Souza is a natural."
Kirkus Reviews,1/1/2008
"With both humor and pathos, D'Souza has written an engrossing story of characters caught in a clash of past and present from which they can't escape."
Booklist,1/15/2008
"This vibrantly written novel, with colorful descriptions of India and the experiences of new immigrants in America, alternates between the hilarious and the heartbreaking; highly recommended for public and academic libraries."
Library Journal,1/1/2008
"D'Souza always maintains focus on his vividly imagined characters and their stories, funny and romantic and heartbreaking as stories told softly to a beloved's ear..."
St. Petersburg Times,3/24/2008
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Biography |
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TONY D’SOUZA is the author of the novel Whiteman, a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist for First Fiction and winner of the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Award and his fiction has been published in the New Yorker, Playboy, Tin House, the Literary Review, Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards, and elsewhere. He considers Sarasota, Florida, his home base.
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General Subjects |
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Fiction- General
History- Asia/India & South Asia
Religion- Christianity/Catholicism
Religion- General
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Rights Details |
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Serial/Audio/Performance/UK/Translation: Darhansoff, Verrill & Feldman |
Rights Information |
Harcourt Books
An imprint ofHarcourt Trade Publishers
A
Harcourt Education Company
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