The Association of Small Bombs

The Association of Small Bombs

First edition
Author	Karan Mahajan
Publisher	Viking Press
Publication date	2016
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	288 pages
ISBN	978-0-525-42963-0

The Association of Small Bombs is a 2016 novel by Indian-American author and novelist Karan Mahajan.[1] The novel is Mahajan's second, after 2012's Family Planning, and was first published in 2016 by Viking Press.[2] The novel was named a finalist for the 2016 National Book Award for Fiction. It was met with positive reviews.[3][4][5][6]

The novel opens with a bombing in a New Delhi marketplace in 1996 and explores the resultant trauma caused by the attack, examining it from the perspective of the victims, their families, and the perpetrators.[7]

Plot

The novel opens with the detonation of a bomb by a Kashmiri man, Shockie. The bomb kills thirteen and injures a further thirty. The remainder of the novel alternates between the perspective of Shockie, those who were injured, and those who lost family in the explosion.

References

1. Fallon, Claire (18 March 2016). "The Bottom Line: 'The Association of Small Bombs' By Karan Mahajan". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
2. Shetty, Sharan (2016-04-06). "After the Blast". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2016-06-12.
3. Maazel, Fiona (15 March 2016). "'The Association of Small Bombs,' by Karan Mahajan". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
4. Schwartz, Alexandra (4 April 2016). "Blast Radius". The New Yorker. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
5. Ruiz-Camacho, Antonio (22 March 2016). "I Want Complete Freedom When I Write". The Millions. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
6. "Book Marks reviews of The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan". Book Marks. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
7. Sacks, Sam (18 March 2016). "Fiction Chronicle: A Typical Bomb". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 4 April 2016.