The Namesake [L0137]

2003 PB with just minor wear. New York Times Bestseller. Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri brilliantly illuminates the immigrant experience and the tangled ties between generations. Namesake is a fine-tuned, intimate, and deeply felt novel of identity from "a writer of uncommon elegance and poise." (The New York Times). Meet the Ganguli family, new arrivals from Calcutta, trying their best to become Americans even as they pine for home in this immersive family saga. The name they bestow on their firstborn, Gogol, betrays all the conflicts of honoring tradition in a new world - conflicts that will haunt Gogol on his own winding coming-of-age path through divided loyalties, comic detours, and wrenching love affairs. "Dazzling...An intimate, closely observed family portrait."-The New York Times.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "Lahiri never fails. She is an exquisite storyteller and master of language. I loved this book. The use of the name as the thread that leads the reader through the immigrant experience and the resulting familial, generational, and cultural divides was perfect. This book remains one of my favorites."; "Jhumpa Lahiri is an amazing author who is able to capture the immigrant experience, both first and second generation. She writes what we immigrants have felt, thought, or said at many points in our lives. The guilt of assimilating, the fine line we walk in balancing cultures, the regrets all people (immigrant or not) face in life are all woven so beautifully within the story of this family. This is one of the most moving stories I have ever read."; "Jhumpa Lahiri's 'The Namesake' is an inspirational, beautifully written breath of fresh-air. I absolutely relished in learning the innumerable enlightening facts about the Indian culture and its people all throughout this brilliantly penned gem. Cannot recommend highly enough."