I Am An Executioner
Love Stories
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4.8 • 5 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
An explosive, funny, wildly original fiction debut: nine stories about the power of love and the love of power, two urgent human desires that inevitably, and sometimes calamitously, intertwine.
In I Am an Executioner, Rajesh Parameswaran introduces us to a cast of heroes—and antiheroes—who spring from his riotous, singular imagination. From the lovesick tiger who narrates the unforgettable opener, “The Infamous Bengal Ming” (he mauls his zookeeper out of affection), to the ex-CompUSA employee who masquerades as a doctor; from a railroad manager in a turn-of-the-century Indian village, to an elephant writing her autobiography; from a woman whose Thanksgiving preparations put her husband to eternal rest, to the newlywed executioner of the title, these characters inhabit a marvelous region between desire and death, playfulness and violence. At once glittering and savage, daring and elegant, here are wholly unforgettable tales where reality loops in Borgesian twists and shines with cinematic exuberance, by an author who promises to dazzle the universe of American fiction.
This ebook edition includes a Reading Group Guide.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the staggering title story, the awkward, love-starved narrator maneuvers between his day job finishing off convicted criminals and his home life, where he tries unsuccessfully to reassure his new wife that he's not as bad as his profession would imply. His poetic, if exaggerated, Indian English creates its own cadence just as his compulsive justification creates its own logic: "I am an honest executioner. I take good care and I don't tell lies, minimum of possible. And each time I pushed down that rock, and it landed with the bad sound, I thought myself: Truth!" Despite this accomplishment, however, the other stories in this admirably risky debut collection vary wildly in both scope and success. In "The Infamous Bengal Ming," a story that feels like it parodies M.F.A. workshops, Parameswar an writes from the perspective of a tiger. In "Demons," a middle-aged Indian immigrant responds to the trauma of her husband's sudden death by ignoring his corpse on the living room floor. But Parameswaran should be applauded for pushing the limits of the genre and for the occasional searing brilliance of his language.
Customer Reviews
Awesome
Love this dark comedy gem of a book. Laughing out loud and impressed by the writing. Highly recommend.