Here are seven superb, subtle, surprising stories that show, through a prism of unforgettable characters, what it means to live between two worlds: India and Canada.
Anosh Irani, the masterful, bestselling author of The Parcel and The Song of Kahunsha, knows of what he writes: Twenty years ago, to the mystification of family and friends, Irani left India for Vancouver, Canada, a city and a country completely foreign to him. His plan was both grand and impractical: he would reinvent himself as a writer. Miraculously, he did just that, publishing critically acclaimed novels and plays set in his beloved hometown of Mumbai. But this uprooting did not come without a steep price--one that Irani for the first time directly explores in this book.
In these stunning stories and one "half truth" (a semi-fictional meditation on the experience of being an immigrant) we meet a swimming instructor determined to re-enact John Cheever's iconic short story "The Swimmer" in the pools of Mumbai; a famous Indian chef who breaks down on a New York talk show; a gangster's wife who believes a penguin at the Mumbai zoo is the reincarnation of her lost child; an illegal immigrant in Vancouver who plays a fateful game of cricket; and a kindly sweets-shop owner whose hope for a new life in Canada leads to a terrible choice. The book starts and ends with a gorgeous, emotionally raw "translation" to the page of the author's own life between worlds, blurring the line between fiction and fact. Translated from the Gibberish confirms Anosh Irani as a unique, inventive, vitally important voice in contemporary fiction.
“Part short fiction and, seemingly, part auto-fiction, Anosh Irani's latest book takes readers into and around the experiences of living between countries—Canada and India—between identities, and between stories. . . . Through Irani's patient and smooth prose . . . the intense longing and agony of these protagonists shine through the charm and inventiveness of the plots. The stories are flanked by Irani's beautiful and visceral reflections on his own experience as an immigrant. . . . All of it cast in language that is as hopeful as it is stirring. . . . Irani is an expert and unique storyteller, no sentence being superfluous or underwhelming. . . . In its style, scope, and narrative magnetism,Translated from the Gibberish is especially inventive and unforgettable.” - Quill and Quire (starred review)
“Told through a series of lyrical meditations—interspersed with some sharply funny but dark moments . . . Irani observes how immigrants can feel both untethered and trapped at the same time.” - Toronto Star
“Masterfully narrated and sobering vignettes that portray characters whose surroundings or upbringings have led to a stasis they strive to overcome . . . Irani's scenarios have an intriguing, dramatic immediacy.” - The Vancouver Sun
“Irani's writing thrives on the reveal, the sudden remark or action exposing absurdity as a means of survival and rapport as a cloak for malice.” - The Georgia Straight
“…surprisingly rich characters and emotions…a disarmingly profound and beautiful book.” - Winnipeg Free Press