The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

The long-awaited debut novel by the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning short story collection, Interpreter of Maladies, begins in 1968 with newlyweds-by-arrangement Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli living in Cambridge, Mass. They name their first child Gogol, after the Russian writer whose story “The Overcoat” Ashoke was reading when a train accident almost ended his life. Lahiri delicately weaves intricacies of naming and names throughout this novel that follows Gogol’s life with frustration and awe, disappointment and wonder, tragedy and love – though not necessarily in that order ….

Review: “New and Notable Books,” AsianWeek, September 26, 2003

Readers: Young Adult, Adult

Published: 2003