Video: Stories - Tapa blanda

"Magical. . . . Video is that rarity, a first collection whose every story charts new areas in human relationships." -The Washington Post

"Echo[es] the magic realism and mythic overtones of Arundhati Roy and Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. . . . Video reveals the budding talent of an assured, accomplished writer." -San Francisco Chronicle

"The writing is juicy; the details lovely, luscious bits of description that waft pungently from the Subcontinent with true Indian-style density." -Los Angeles Times

"Sure-footed and telling, filled with powerful observations and sentences of lyric beauty. . . . [Video] revels in . . . the stunning collisions between ancient ritual and contemporary reality that are everyday occurrences in India." -Chicago Tribune

"A gifted writer with a flair for storytelling, Nair creates passionate, distinctive characters, establishing herself as a writer to watch." -USA Today

"Powerful. . . . Emotionally nuanced. . . . Flawlessly executed. . . . Taken together, [these stories] span a wide swath of Indian experience. . . . [An] accomplished collection." -Vogue

"These stories are stunning: sensuous and touching and beautifully crafted. . . . I've never met Meera Nair, but I feel I'll be listening to her for a very long time to come." -Pico Iyer

"Memorable and moving. . . . Poignant. . . . Nair captures the voices of her countrymen to mesmerizing effect." -The Oregonian

"Impressive . . . striking. . . . Comparable to Jhumpa Lahiri's Pulitzer winner Interpreter of Maladies, and very probably the beginning of a fine career." -Kirkus Reviews

"Indelible. . . . A quietly defiant work of gentle emotion." -The Austin Chronicle

"Masterful. . . . Unflinching. . . . Abound[ing] with authenticity." -The Washington Times

Offering fascinating glimpses into Indian life, this debut collection of short fiction captures a range of human emotion and experience in such works as "The Sculptor of Sands," "The Lodger in Room 726," and the title story, about the impact on his marriage, neighborhood, and other relationships of an Indian's man's exposure to a Western-style porn film. Reprint. 15,000 first printing.