Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee [Hardcover]

Meera Syal (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2000

An Indian Waiting to Exhale--the hilarious and moving new novel from the prizewinning author of Anita and Me. At home, Meera Syal's women "walk in small steps, talk in sweet tones, pour dainty cupfuls, and refill plates in the shake of a dupatta," but at work, they "kick ass across courtrooms and computer screens." In a book somewhere between Waiting to Exhale and Bridget Jones's Diary, Syal has created an indelible portrait of a close-knit group of Indian women living in London. Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee is the story of Chila, a nice Punjabi girl married to the urbane Deepak, and her two childhood confidants: Sunita, the former activist law student, now an overweight, depressed housewife and mother; and the chic, beautiful Tania, who has rejected marriage in favor of a high-powered career in television and life in a trendy apartment with her English boyfriend. This hilariously scathing, no-holds-barred novel from the award-winning author of Anita and Me describes what happens when one of them makes a documentary, starring the other two, about contemporary urban Indian life.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Meera Syal's second novel features a trio of close and somewhat unlikely childhood friends. Sunita, a former law student and activist, has married her university sweetheart Akash, and is settled into a life of overweight, underappreciated motherhood. Tania is a raven-maned beauty who's rejected marriage and anything traditionally Asian for a high-flying TV career and a compliant Indophile boyfriend. And then there's Chila. Innocent, kind, funny Chila, with her simple soul and her glass animal collection, has just, to everyone's amazement, snared Deepak--the "most eligible bachelor within a twenty-mile radius."

A comedienne and actress as well as the author of the prize-winning Anita and Me, Syal expertly steers her characters through what we might call middle youth--that emotional roller coaster of an age when the real growing up is done. Everywhere her trademark wit and sensitivity are on display. There's the inevitable bitching at the wedding: "Now the sister is howling. I'd howl if I had a moustache like hers..." Then, after the ceremony, come the traditional tears:

Tissue-clutching matriarchs reattached themselves to harrumphing husbands, reaffirming their bonds to each other and the watching world. Single girls clucked in feverish groups, high on the drama of the departure, tossing their fancy dupattas at the single men, torn between the horror and the longing of it all.

What comes after that, alas, is infidelity and envy and betrayal. True to its stoic title, Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee encompasses not only the strengths but the limits of female friendship. Yet the author retains her sense of humor and cross-cultural irony to the very end. One final note: if you're pregnant and have set your heart on natural childbirth, avoid pages 72 and 73. Or else book that elective cesarean and painkilling cocktail. Now. --Lisa Gee

From Publishers Weekly

The multitalented Syal, an award-winning TV/screenwriter and U.K. actress, tells a compassionate, resonant tale of culture clash, Indian identity and friendship in her smoothly executed second novel (her first, Anita and Me, won a Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Prize). With spot-on cinematic sensibility and laugh-out-loud dialogue, Syal charts the lives of three 30-something Indian women, friends since childhood, living in contemporary London. Sunita, a former activist law student, is a depressed, overweight housewife and mother of two, and Tania has rejected the traditional arranged marriage for a high-powered career in TV, an apartment in trendy Soho and a Caucasian live-in boyfriend. Chila, whom the other two consider simple, is marrying Deepak, "bagging not only a groom with his own teeth, hair, degree and house, but the most eligible bachelor within a 20-mile radius." All three women struggle with living in two cultures: the Indian world in which a woman's worth is largely measured by her husband's stature, and modern British culture, where self-realization and careerism dominate. Told from alternating points of view, the novel describes, with clarity and resonance, the cultural collision that occurs when Tania makes a brash documentary on relationships, using her friends as subjects and presenting them in an unflattering light. After an incident between Tania and Deepak at the screening inflames the situation, the trio's lifelong friendship is further imperiled. Syal handles many serious issues, including a death, a birth, a kidnapping and an extramarital affair or two, with wit and precision. A kind of Bridget Jones' Diary meets The Buddha of Suburbia, the novel poignantly captures the core of its characters with lusty brio and keen intelligence. 5-city author tour. (June) FYI: Syal's film and TV scripts include Bhaji on the Beach and My Sister Wife. She co-writes and stars in the British hit comedy series Goodness Gracious Me, which last year was nominated for an International Emmy.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: New Press, The (June 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565846141
• ISBN-13: 978-1565846142
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,760,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read!, July 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee (Hardcover)

This is one of the few books that actually keeps the reader interested from beginning to end. The main characters - Tania, Sunita, Chila, and their husbands, boyfriends and family members - are very insightful and well written. The scenes in the book are so vividly described in a way I can actually see the narrative happening in my mind. I also like how the author uses originality and suspense to keep the story line going. This is a trait that is so hard to find in many novels these days. The surprises were so shocking, I couldn't put down the book for no long amount of time, fearing that I would miss something! I read this 332-page book in two days, which is record time for me. I also liked this book because the author talks about issues that Indian women don't discuss outside of their communities, such as sexuality, interracial dating, marriage, careers, friendship, family and cultural norms. Though I am not Indian myself, I was able to relate to some of the dilemmas the author brings up. This is a great book to read if one is interested in learning more about Indian culture in the United Kingdom. I loved her last book, Anita and Me, and I look forward to reading publications from her in the future!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is really terrific, February 11, 2002

By 

Leigh Munro - See all my reviews

This review is from: Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee (Paperback)

As regular readers of my reviews will know (!!), I love novels about India. This is a book about modern Indian women living in Britain and their struggle to assymilate two very different cultures. I have many Indian friends, and the women portrayed in this novel are very typical. This novel is also extremely funny with very vivid and lovable characters but underneath it all their stories are very poignant. This would be a great book for discussion in a Book Circle.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great read, August 30, 2000

By 

linda sackstein (Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee (Hardcover)

Meera Syal has written a thoroughly entertaining book that has a great story. Her characters are real and believable and her descriptions of people, places and especially movements are outstanding. e.g. "she swooped down like an epileptic bat". What I liked best about this writer is her wonderful use of the English language. If you would like to read a good story beautifully written, get hold of this book as soon as you can.