Funny Boy: A Novel in Six Stories

(Paperback)

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'An extraordinarily powerful, deeply moving novel' Amitav Ghosh 'An extraordinarily powerful, deeply moving novel' Amitav Ghosh NOW A MAJOR FILM ON NETFLIX In the world of his large family - affluent Tamils living in Colombo - Arjie is an oddity, a 'funny boy' who prefers dressing as a girl to playing cricket with his brother. But as Arjie comes to terms with his own homo-sexuality and with the racism of the society in which he lives, Sri Lanka is plunged into civil war as fighting between the army and the Tamil Tigers gradually begins to encroach on the family's comfortable life. Sporadic acts of violence flare into full scale riots and lead, ultimately, to tragedy. Written in clear, simple prose, Shyam Selvadurai's first novel is masterly in its mingling of the personal and political. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY NEEL MUKHERJEE

Reviews

An extaordinarily powerful, deeply moving novel -- Amitav Ghosh
Selvadurai writes as sensitively about the emotional intensity of adolescence as he does about the wonder of childhood * New York Times Book Review *
Glittering and wise... Funny Boy keeps repeating that the human condition can, in spite of everything, be joyful. You are not alone, it says to the reader. I understand you. I too was there. I remember -- Alberto Manguel
A quiet masterpiece * Gay Times *
At first sight an innocently observed portrait of Tamil family life in seventies Sri Lanka, it metamorphosed into a lucid, serious piece of writing... Selvadurai's world is delightful, frightening, important and he describes it with touching clarity... His novel is a graceful and intelligent account of the random nature of growing up * Observer *
Exquisitely written...superb * Independent *
The unadorned and simple prose has elegance and great sophistication. Moreover, Selvadurai has a genius for touching a nerve with a feather-light touch... A powerful and beautifully written novel * Literary Review *

Author Bio

Shyam Selvadurai was born in 1965 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He left Sri Lanka after the 1983 riots in Colombo and settled with his family in Canada. He lives in Toronto.