Ghachar Ghochar A Novel

"A great Indian novel...Folded into the compressed, densely psychological portrait of this family is a whole universe."
-Parul Sehgal, The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)
"[Shanbhag] is a master of inference and omission...What's most impressive about Ghachar Ghochar...is how much intricacy and turmoil gets distilled into its few pages...[A] wise and skillful book."
-Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal

"A classic tale of wealth and moral ruin and a parable about capitalism and Indian society."
-The New Yorker

"Within the tight confines of a hundred pages or so, Shanbhag presents as densely layered a social vision of Bangalore as Edith Wharton did of New York in The House of Mirth...He's one of those special writers who can bring a fully realized world to life in a few pages...The tense fun of reading this vivid, fretful story lies in watching the main characters grab hold of what they think will be rescue ropes, but instead turn out to be slip knots."
-Maureen Corrigan, NPR

"Great Indian novels...tend towards large tomes, written in English. Now, however, the arrival of a new work has shaken up the status quo: Vivek Shanbhag's gripping Ghachar Ghochar. This slim volume...packs a powerful punch, both in terms of the precision of its portrait of one Bangalore-based family, and, by extension, what this tells us about modern India....Shanbhag is the real deal, this gem of a novel resounding with chilling truths."
-The Independent (UK)

"A simple story, well told...Its gently comic tone belies a stunning satire, the full power of which is only apparent as the horror of the ending becomes clear."
-Louise Doughty, The Guardian, "Best Books of 2017"

"Masterful...This stunning Bangalore-set family drama underlines the necessity of reading beyond our borders....Ghachar Ghochar is both fascinatingly different from much Indian writing in English, and provides a masterclass in crafting, particularly on the power of leaving things unsaid."
-Deborah Smith, The Guardian

"The level of effortless glancing detail with which [Shanbhag] draws minor characters...is extraordinary. That it is one of the few novels translated (beautifully) from Kannada, a language spoken by millions and with its own literary tradition, to be published in the United States says a lot about our literary world's myopia when it comes to the Indian novel."
-Vulture, "A Premature Attempt at the 21st Century Literary Canon"

"Ghachar Ghochar introduces us to a master."
-Lorin Stein, The Paris Review

"One of the finest literary works you will ever encounter...a nuanced wonder."
-Irish Times

"A feat of taut, economical storytelling...[with] moments of wonderfully dark, often unexpected, cynicism."
-Financial Times

"One of the best novels to have come out of India in recent decades."
-Pankaj Mishra, author of Age of Anger

"Vivek Shanbhag is an Indian Chekhov."
-Suketu Mehta, author of Maximum City

"In this exquisitely observed, wry and moving novel, the smallest detail can conjure entire worlds of feeling. Vivek Shanbhag is a writer of rare and wonderful gifts."
-Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You

"One of my favorite contemporary writers in English translates one of the leading figures of Kannada literature. The result is mesmerizing, distressing-and altogether brilliant."
-Karan Mahajan, author of The Association of Small Bombs

"Vivek Shanbhag is one of those writers whose voice takes your breath away at the first encounter."
-Yiyun Li, author of Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life

"Ghachar Ghochar is one of the most striking novels you'll read this decade. . . . In Shanbhag's hands, the Indian family is revealed in layers; as one layer peels away, what lies beneath is left raw and exposed."
-Nilanjana Roy, Business Standard (India)

"[Shanbhag is] an extraordinary storyteller - one astutely alive to the competing forces of self-interest and empathy."
-Jonathan Lee