Anita Desai, Fasting, Feasting

Sarah Sceats (Kingston University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 10.3.1.03: Indian Writing and Culture: Post-colonial, 1947-present.
Vol. editors: Claire Gallien (Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3), Pavan Kumar Malreddy (J W Goethe University of Frankfurt), Delphine Munos (Université de Liège)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1999

Places

India (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

Anita Desai’s Fasting, Feasting, published in 1999, was the third of her novels to be shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Like much of her fiction, it features the Indian middle class, but is also partly set in the United States, a juxtaposition that sharpens her observations of both cultures. The novel tells the story of two families: one Indian, provincial, clinging to traditional behaviours and values, the other modern, American, conforming to all the stereotypes of Western consumerism. Passing from one world to the other is Arun, son of the Indian household, who is sent to the US for his university education. The novel is curiously structured into two uneven parts, the first section, set in India, being more than twice as …

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1888 words

Citation: Sceats, Sarah. "Fasting, Feasting". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 October 2007 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5181, accessed 26 November 2024.]

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