Funny Boy
  • Published: 19 May 2020
  • ISBN: 9781529110746
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $24.99

Funny Boy

A Novel in Six Stories

Formats & editions
EBook
1 Dec 2010
Paperback
19 May 2020
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'An extraordinarily powerful, deeply moving novel' Amitav Ghosh

'An extraordinarily powerful, deeply moving novel' Amitav Ghosh

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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
  • Published: 19 May 2020
  • ISBN: 9781529110746
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $24.99
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About the author

Shyam Selvadurai

Shyam Selvadurai was born in 1965 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He left Sri Lanka after the 1983 riots on Colombo and settled with his family in Canada. He lives in Toronto and is the author of Funny Boy (1994), Cinnamon Gardens (1998) and Swimming in the Monsoon Sea (2005).

Also by Shyam Selvadurai

Swimming in the Monsoon Sea
Cinnamon Gardens
See all

Praise for Funny Boy

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