In Other Rooms, Other Wonders

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders
First edition
AuthorDaniyal Mueenuddin
GenreShort story
PublisherNorton
Publication date
2009
Publication placePakistan, United States
ISBN978-0-393-33720-4

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders is a collection of short stories written by Pakistani-American author Daniyal Mueenuddin,[1][2][3][4] who has also worked as a journalist, lawyer and a businessman. His book has won The Story Prize, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and other honors[5] and was a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize[6] and the 2009 National Book Award.[7]

Stories

  • "Nawabdin Electrician"
  • "Saleema"
  • "Provide, Provide"
  • "About a Burning Girl"
  • "In Other Rooms, Other Wonders"
  • "Our Lady of Paris"
  • "Lily"
  • "A Spoiled Man"

Summary

The stories uncovers a variegated society in which people's social status and expectations are understood without being explained, and in which the class system and poverty are shown to influence any decision made at a critical moment in the characters' lives. The book consists of eight linked stories written in Pakistan in the 1970s, '80s and '90s, and describe Pakistani culture from within.[3]

Reviews

Sonny Mehta, editor-in-chief and chairman of Bertelsmann AG's Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, says;

"The Pakistani writers are addressing change and what's happening today in the world. There is something completely contemporary in this writing."[3]

Poet and Writer Magazine writes;

"Mueenuddin's book investigates life in his native Pakistan (he was also raised in Massachusetts) through the lenses of individuals in different stations, from an electrician to a woman servant to a farm manager, a position the author himself occupies today. He described himself as being in the profession of identifying characters, both in his writing and in his business at home."[8]

References

  1. ^ "Sex and Other Social Devices". The New York Times. 6 February 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  2. ^ "Michael Dirda on In Other Rooms, Other Wonders". The Washington Post. 15 February 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  3. ^ a b c "Tales From a Punjab Mango Farm". The Wall Street Journal. 31 January 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  4. ^ "Writing the Unknown Pakistan On Point, interview". ON Point Wbur.Org. 20 February 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  5. ^ "Interview With Daniyal Mueenuddin". Beyond The Margins. 23 February 2010. Archived from the original on 20 May 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  6. ^ "Fiction". The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  7. ^ "National Book Awards – 2009". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  8. ^ "Daniyal Mueenuddin Takes Home Story Prize". Poets & Writers Magazine blog. 3 April 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2012.