Praise
“Only the finest writers can craft short stories with the richness of a novel, and that is precisely what Reddi has done in this exceptional debut collection. She has burrowed so deeply into the lives of her characters as to make them not only real individuals, but very memorable and sympathetic ones. It is a most impressive achievement.”
— Arthur Golden, author of Memoirs of a Geisha
“These stories have a stillness and clarity of language that allow immediate closeness to the emotional lives of the characters. . . . Sad, sweet, tender - truly a lovely book.”
— Kiran Desai, Man Booker Prize-winning author of The Inheritance of Loss
“Reddi has written a unique and beautiful book with the power to both entertain and educate. The reader is left to ponder whether making up one’s own mind - and heart - to be free is a decision that can transcend both custom and country.”
— Judith Guest, Bestselling author of Ordinary People
“Rishi Reddi’s characters are complicated people: lonely, prideful, loving, lost and, as are the stories they inhabit, memorable and very worthy of our attention. Exquisite.”
— Binnie Kirshenbaum, author of An Almost Perfect Moment
“This excellent debut collection is deceptively easy to read. The stories of Indian Americans navigating their way through two cultures can be read in one or two sittings, but they deserve to be pored over slowly. . . . A great recommendation not only for fans of Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake but also for fans of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s elegant studies of a culture that is both familiar and foreign. “
— Booklist
“Reddi’s voice is gentle, her eye watchful, and the dilemmas of her often-isolated characters are by no means solely those of the immigrant community. A soft spoken, sympathetic collection.”
— Kirkus Review
“ . . . Reddi deftly employs images to crystallize [her themes]: a set of red glass bracelets smashed with a rock, a wounded bird confused by Boston’s skyscrapers, even a bean-and-cheese burrito, all call to mind the isolation and occasional bewilderment shared by her sympathetic characters.”
— Publisher’s Weekly
“Brookline author Rishi Reddi, whose brilliant, elegiac story “Justice Shiva Ram Murthy” appeared in The Best American Short Stories 2005, proves that a strong voice will always be heard. Reddi is the brightest light in Boston’s latest literary constellation . . . Set in the Boston area, her book’s interlinked stories vividly dissect and celebrate the region’s Indian immigrant community. Reddi’s lines combine subtlety and power, and reflect the type of naturalism you’d expect from a former environmental lawyer (the title story’s hero sets out to save a bird injured after crashing into a downtown skyscraper, and winds up saving himself).“
— Boston Magazine