Manu Joseph: The Illicit Happiness of Other People
VIEW EVENT DETAILSBooks in Conversation
The Illicit Happiness of Other People is Manu Joseph’s highly anticipated second novel following his PEN Open Book Award–winning Serious Men (2010). In a similar spirit, yet derived from a time and place closer to home, Joseph crafts the smart, wry story of the Chackos, a Christian family living in a gossipy Madras housing community in the late 1980s. Through brilliantly controlled prose and unsettling encounters, Joseph exposes the essence of domestic life in southern India. The cast of quirky yet unerringly written characters along with Joseph’s remarkable voice with its humorous observations transforms The Illicit Happiness of Other People from mere social commentary to unforgettable narrative that fearlessly takes on some of life’s most haunting questions.
Manu Joseph’s acclaimed first novel, Serious Men, won the PEN Open Book Award and The Hindu Best Fiction Award. It was shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize, the regional Commonwealth Prize, and the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for best comic novel. Joseph lives in New Delhi, where he is a columnist for the International Herald Tribune and editor of OPEN Magazine.
Schedule
Registration and Reception: 6:30pm
Program: 7:00pm
Book signing to follow the program
Tickets
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Related Links
Interview: Novelist Manu Joseph Explores Family Happiness, 'Illicit' and Otherwise
Book Excerpt: The Illicit Happiness of Other People by Manu Joseph on Asia Blog