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The driver’s job is to stay in control behind the wheel and that is all. The past is what you leave as you go. There is nothing more to it.
Vasantha retired early, bought himself a van with his savings, and now works as a driver for hire. As he drives through Sri Lanka, carrying aid workers, businessmen, and families and meeting lonely soldiers and eager hoteliers, he engages them with self-deprecating wit and folksy wisdom—and reveals for us their uncertain lives.
On his journey from the army camps in northern Jaffna to the moonlit ramparts of Galle, in the south, Vasantha begins to discover the depth of the problems of the past—his own and his country’s—and the promise the future might hold.
From the writer praised by The Guardian for the “vivid originality” of his vision, here is a wonderful collection—perceptive, somber, finely tuned—that draws a potent portrait of postwar Sri Lanka and the ghosts of civil war.
Vasantha retired early, bought himself a van with his savings, and now works as a driver for hire. As he drives through Sri Lanka, carrying aid workers, businessmen, and families and meeting lonely soldiers and eager hoteliers, he engages them with self-deprecating wit and folksy wisdom—and reveals for us their uncertain lives.
On his journey from the army camps in northern Jaffna to the moonlit ramparts of Galle, in the south, Vasantha begins to discover the depth of the problems of the past—his own and his country’s—and the promise the future might hold.
From the writer praised by The Guardian for the “vivid originality” of his vision, here is a wonderful collection—perceptive, somber, finely tuned—that draws a potent portrait of postwar Sri Lanka and the ghosts of civil war.
Price: $24.99
Pages: 256
Publisher: The New Press
Imprint: The New Press
Publication Date:
16 September 2014
ISBN: 9781620970218
Format: eBook
Praise for Romesh Gunesekera's previous books:
"Monkfish Moon strikes the reader like a hammer blow…Gunesekera’s subtly erotic prose animates Sri Lanka’s natural luxuriance, veined with menace."
—Voice Literary Supplement
"Revelatory and unique."
—The New Yorker
"Full of the uncertain sadness of exiles and dreamers…Gunesekera’s characters become memorable emblems of solitude and despair."
—Vogue
"An enchanting, endlessly funny and affecting novel—truly exquisite."
—San Francisco Chronicle
"A sensuous feast of delight, incessantly pleasurable to read…A book to be slowly savoured, page by page."
—The Times (London)
"Monkfish Moon strikes the reader like a hammer blow…Gunesekera’s subtly erotic prose animates Sri Lanka’s natural luxuriance, veined with menace."
—Voice Literary Supplement
"Revelatory and unique."
—The New Yorker
"Full of the uncertain sadness of exiles and dreamers…Gunesekera’s characters become memorable emblems of solitude and despair."
—Vogue
"An enchanting, endlessly funny and affecting novel—truly exquisite."
—San Francisco Chronicle
"A sensuous feast of delight, incessantly pleasurable to read…A book to be slowly savoured, page by page."
—The Times (London)
Romesh Gunesekera is the author of eight highly acclaimed works, including Reef, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and The Guardian Fiction Prize; The Sandglass, winner of the BBC Asia Award; The Match; and a collection of stories, Monkfish Moon, a New York Times notable book (all available from The New Press). He lives in London.