The Last Jet-Engine Laugh by Joshi, Ruchir - 2001

London: Flamingo, 2001. First edition. Hardback. Fine/Very Good. Flamingo, London, 2001. First edition. Book condition: near fine and with an unread 'feel'. Dust jacket condition: very good - unclipped and with only minor shelf wear around the edges. Ruchir Joshi's writing is sharp, loose, fluent and varied. Set in the not-so-distant future, and in the belligerent wannabe superpower that is India. Para, a tomboyish fighter pilot, flies sorties against the Pak-Saudi alliance. She is trained to kill, to be a deadly instrument for the military ambitions of an ultra-modern state. Yet it is less than a hundred years since her smart, principled grandparents met on a non-violent demonstration against British rule in Ahedabad, falling in love as they were trampled by the mounted police. Their only son, Paresh, grows up to drift through life, torn in different directions all at once, though he does produce an entirely spirited, directed daughter - Para.