New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2003. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Fine/Very Fine. 8vo., 291pp, Beautiful First Edition, First Printing with full number sequence. Square, tight and clean throughout with no discernible wear. Equally attractive unclipped dust-jacket, ($24.00), is fresh and bright with no chipping, creases, toning or tears. Signed by the author on the title page. A gorgeous collectable copy of this winner of the National Book Award and basis for the film Glenn Close and Robin Williams.

Synopsis

Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies established this young writer as one the most brilliant of her generation. Her stories are one of the very few debut works -- and only a handful of collections -- to have won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Among the many other awards and honors it received were the New Yorker Debut of the Year award, the PEN/Hemingway Award, and the highest critical praise for its grace, acuity, and compassion in detailing lives transported from India to America. In The Namesake, Lahiri enriches the themes that made her collection an international bestseller: the immigrant experience, the clash of cultures, the conflicts of assimilation, and, most poignantly, the tangled ties between generations. Here again Lahiri displays her deft touch for the perfect detail -- the fleeting moment, the turn of phrase -- that opens whole worlds of emotion. The Namesake takes the Ganguli family from their tradition-bound life in Calcutta through their fraught transformation into Americans. On the heels of their arranged wedding, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli settle together in Cambridge, Massachusetts. An engineer by training, Ashoke adapts far less warily than his wife, who resists all things American and pines for her family. When their son is born, the task of naming him betrays the vexed results of bringing old ways to the new world. Named for a Russian writer by his Indian parents in memory of a catastrophe years before, Gogol Ganguli knows only that he suffers the burden of his heritage as well as his odd, antic name. Lahiri brings great empathy to Gogol as he stumbles along the first-generation path, strewn with conflicting loyalties, comic detours, and wrenching love affairs. With penetrating insight, she reveals not only the defining power of the names and expectations bestowed upon us by our parents, but also the means by which we slowly, sometimes painfully, come to define ourselves. The New York Times has praised Lahiri as "a writer of uncommon elegance and poise." The Namesake is a fine-tuned, intimate, and deeply felt novel of identity.

Reviews

On Aug 11 2005, Raabe said:

Delightful and moving, this story of an Americanized Indian man nicknamed "Gogol" after Nikolai Gogol is thoughtful and extremely entertaining. Lahiri is a prizewinner not to be missed.

(Log in or Create an Account first!)

Details

Bookseller: Brenner's Collectable Books (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #: 015216
Title: The Namesake (Signed First Edition)
Author: Lahiri, Jhumpa
Format/Binding: Hardcover
Book Condition: Used - Very Fine
Jacket Condition: Very Fine
Quantity Available: 1
Edition: 1st Edition
ISBN 10: 0395927218
ISBN 13: 9780395927212
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Place of Publication: New York
Date Published: 2003
Bookseller catalogs: Signed/Inscribed;

Terms of Sale

Brenner's Collectable Books

All orders ship within one business day. Standard mail is USPS Media Mail.

All items are guaranteed to be as described or they may be returned within 30 days of receipt for a full refund.

About the Seller

Brenner's Collectable Books

This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.

Biblio member since 2006

Manasquan, New Jersey

Ask Seller a Question

About Brenner's Collectable Books

35 Plus years buying and selling collectable books. Member ABAA, ILAB, IOBA.
An eclectic mix of good books specializing in Sci-Fi, Mystery, General Antiquarian, Books About Books, Signed First Editions, Vintage Paperbacks, Modern Fiction and many, many others. Prompt, professional customer service, always!.
Please excuse any glare or reflections in the pictures. Books I know; photography not so much. I will answer any questions regarding condition if photos are unclear or provide additional photos if needed.
All books are stored in a temperature controlled library in a smoke free home. All books are professionally packed and shipped and all jacketed books will come with an archival Brodart jacket protector.

Glossary
Frequently asked questions

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Title Page: A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
Tight: Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
Fine: A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
Chipping: A defect in which small pieces are missing from the edges; fraying or small pieces of paper missing the edge of a paperback, or...
First Edition: In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...