Em and the Big Hoom
A Novel
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3.2 • 10 Ratings
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
The devastatingly original debut novel from a winner of the Windham-Campbell Prize for Fiction.
“Profoundly moving . . . I cannot remember when I last read something as touching as this.” —Amitav Ghosh, author of The Glass Palace
First published by a small press in India, Jerry Pinto’s debut novel has already taken the literary world by storm. Suffused with compassion, humor, and hard-won wisdom, Em and the Big Hoom is a modern masterpiece, and its American publication is certain to be one of the major literary events of the season.
Meet Imelda and Augustine, or—as our young narrator calls his unusual parents—Em and the Big Hoom. Most of the time, Em smokes endless beedis and sings her way through life. She is the sun around which everyone else orbits. But as enchanting and high-spirited as she can be, when Em’s bipolar disorder seizes her she becomes monstrous, sometimes with calamitous consequences for herself and others. This accomplished debut is graceful and urgent, with a one-of-a-kind voice that will stay with readers long after the last page.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Pinto's debut offers a heartbreaking glimpse into the daily horrors and sometimes humors of growing up with a mentally ill parent. Set in India, the story is told through the eyes of an unnamed son looking back on childhood with his always tumultuous mother, Imelda, aka "Em," and her casual cruelties, unpredictable public scenes, suicide attempts, and psychiatric stays. The narrator does his journalistic best, investigating his mother's old letters, her diary, and interrogating the snide, quipping Em as much as she'll allow, to determine how she even met his stalwart father, Augustine, aka "the Big Hoom" let alone how they came to start a family together. The narrator also hopes to find out exactly how Em lost her mind. Even in her many betrayals, Em is charming; the narrator's depiction of her is unflinching and honest, and relayed in a tidy voice that's nearly matter-of-fact. The result is a trim but deeply felt first novel that successfully navigates some difficult territory identity, madness, our obligations to one another without ever becoming bogged down.
