The Cripple and His Talismans [Hardcover]

Anosh Irani (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2005

Prepare to enter a world where the norms of human behavior—even the rules governing time and gravity—are set on their heads. This dark and wry fable begins with the narrator waking up and discovering he is missing an arm. He has no idea how he lost it or how to find it—but as he searches the chaotic, often surreal streets of Bombay, he meets an absurd and marvelous cast of characters who offer him clues: a woman selling rainbows, a beggar living under an egg cart, a coffin maker who builds finger-sized caskets, a giant who lives underwater, a homeless boy riding the rails. They all lead him to Baba Rakhu, master of the underworld, who will reveal the story of his lost arm—for a price.

Funny and wise, violent and tender, The Cripple and His Talismans is an impressive debut. A bestseller in Canada, it has been compared to the works of Samuel Beckett, Lewis Carroll, and Salman Rushdie.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An unnamed narrator searches for his missing arm in a Bombay marked by odd magic and peopled by surreal prophets in Irani's lush debut novel. The protagonist awakes in a hospital with his arm amputated, but with no memory of how he was injured. Thus begins his quest: a search to unravel the mystery of the missing limb that signifies a spiritual journey. A young man of privilege, he forgoes material comforts for an austere existence more fitting for a "novice cripple" and discovers a Bombay he never knew. Various underworld characters offer him cryptic clues: the beggar Gura instructs him to listen to the sounds of the streets for answers, a woman selling rainbows warns him of an evil eye, and a leper gives him a finger, which he carries thereafter in search of its significance. On this colorful journey of self-discovery, the narrator investigates his past and faces his sins. Though the novel's many instructive riddles ("Your eyes see only that which they are meant to") can read as New Agey sound bites, an undercurrent of dark humor as well as Irani's atmospheric evocation of Bombay enliven this compelling story. Agent, Denise Bukowski. (May)
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From Booklist

The surreal world takes center stage in this vibrant fable about a young boy who wakes up in a hospital minus an arm, with no memory of what happened to him. Indian writer Irani's debut is set in the teeming city of Bombay, where capricious characters populate both land and sea--a woman sells rainbows, a man builds finger-sized caskets, a giant dwells underwater, pulling unsuspecting souls down at will. Determined to recover his lost limb, the boy follows a series of cryptic clues ("You must go there," says the giant, pointing a severed finger at the boy's heart) and probes his own dark past (including the day he found his mother cheating on his father with a well-known judge). Ashamed of his status as a cripple, he covers his left side with a shawl and even attempts suicide--with darkly comic results. Irani's prose is audacious and spare (squeamish readers may find some of his images unsettling). A challenging offering from a writer with a penchant for mixing the profane and divine. Allison Block
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Algonquin Books (April 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565124561
• ISBN-13: 978-1565124561
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,059,973 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An odd tale of Bombay, July 30, 2004

By 

W. Wren "piddleville" (Alberta) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Cripple and His Talismans (Hardcover)

Many books are referred to as "darkly comic." In this case, it's true. It's a dark tale but one that is genuinely funny. An unnamed narrator goes on a quest for his missing arm through the dark, impoverished, violent and funny side of Bombay.

The journey is episodic as the wealthy narrator encounters odd characters, wakes in new situations and generally moves through an absurdist world that reveals a Bombay he didn't know, as it also reveals a self he didn't know - or at least, he had been avoiding.

In the end, it is a quest for himself. Or perhaps it's more accurate to say a harmonization of himself through the discovery of a strangely and wonderfully contradictory Bombay.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars brilliant but unfortunately a sick tale, July 31, 2005

By 

Prakash V. kulkarni (Voorhees, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Cripple and His Talismans (Hardcover)

This is Anosh Irani's debut novel. I really admire his craft. His use of similies and allegories is just perfect.
A man wakes up in a Bombay hospital to find his arm has been amputated. He goes in search of it in the dark side of Bombay. Since most first novels are to some extent autobiographical, I continuously wondered what experiences were really part of the author's life. To strengthen my doubts, the experiences of the protagonist are written in first person singular (the character I).
On most occasions the incidents don't make a real sense. The slant gets confusing. What does the author intend to tell?
Is it the rediscovery of a missing part of the personality? Is this some kind of a spiritual quest? (I hope it wasn't) or was the intention to show the dark side of Bombay?
Though incidents have depicted vividly, sometimes they look so distorted as to be called 'ramblings of a psychotic mind.'
Still I must say I enjoyed reading the book and I wouldn't discourage anyone who wishes to read it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious, August 16, 2004

By 

M (Vancouver) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cripple and His Talismans (Hardcover)

I love this book. Anosh Irani has a wonderful wit. I've never laughed so much from a book.