26. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri Jhumpa Lahiri, whose second novel, The Lowland , will be released on September 24, received the Pulitzer Prize for this debut collection of short stories. Reading Jhumpa Lahiri's stories is like slipping into an old nightgown or scooping up a bowl of your favorite cultural dish. The majority of her stories follow the intimate lives of Bengali families and take place in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The feeling that her stories produce in me may be somewhat unique, since one of my best friends is Bengali and I spent my college years in Boston. But no matter how foreign the trappings, I find it hard to believe that the thoughts and feelings of her characters would not elicit a sense of familiarity from any human being. The character details are almost painfully thrilling in the accuracy with which she depicts the quiet confusion of her protagonists' lives. Yet, every time I read a Jhumpa Lahiri story, I settle into it with such fee...
Life, Books, and SFF