Description
Amitav Ghosh's debut novel—already demonstrating the historical range, the formal ambition, and the profound social intelligence that would characterize all his subsequent work—follows Alu, a young weaver, across India, the Persian Gulf, and North Africa in a picaresque journey that uses the philosophy of reason as its comic and tragic touchstone. Written with the exuberance and the conceptual daring of a major talent arriving fully formed, this is essential reading for every admirer of Ghosh's work and every reader who wants to understand how one of the great literary careers began. A fascinating and important debut.

