Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, Kiran Desai
Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, Kiran Desai
1 Rating(s)
List: $18.00 | Sale: $12.60
Club: $9.00

Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard

Author: Kiran Desai

Narrator: Vidish Athavale

Unabridged: 6 hr 35 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/02/2025


Synopsis

Sampath Chawla was born in a time of drought that ended with a vengeance the night of his birth. All signs being auspicious, the villagers triumphantly assured Sampath's proud parents that their son was destined for greatness.

Twenty years of failure later, that unfortunately does not appear to be the case. A sullen government worker, Sampath is inspired only when in search of a quiet place to take his nap. "But the world is round," his grandmother says. "Wait and see! Even if it appears he is going downhill, he will come up the other side. Yes, on top of the world. He is just taking a longer route." No one believes her until, one day, Sampath climbs into a guava tree and becomes unintentionally famous as a holy man, setting off a series of events that spin increasingly out of control. A delightfully sweet comic novel that ends in a raucous bang, Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard is as surprising and entertaining as it is beautifully wrought.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Chris on July 30, 2011

I try my best to respond to the text and not to other readers here, but really negative reviewers? REALLY!? The book is called Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard. Not since Breakin' II: Electric Boogaloo has a work so clearly announced itself as ridiculous. Did you read the back cover? The one that say......more

Goodreads review by Will on February 24, 2016

Chauncey Gardener in India, Sampath is a slacker of the first order, completely lacking in ambition and as distractible as an infant confronted with moving shiny objects. After losing his job in a rather dramatic manner, Sampath wanders up the road until he feels the pull of a guava tree and decides......more

Goodreads review by Reading_ on October 17, 2024

Well! This is such a weird read! I am impressed and I do feel this book is so underrated. I expected the writing to be not this fast paced and so easy to read in just one sitting! I find the characters realistic though the story has some fantastical elements in the plot. I can understand the dilemma o......more

Goodreads review by Tiloma on November 09, 2007

Kiran Desai has now written a serious book that shows off her deep thinking and writing skills - the inheritance of loss. whatever. she had me at Hullabaloo. this book is funny. Hands down funny. And the mother in the book, reminds me of my mother on her more insane days. I just realized that in a lot......more

Goodreads review by Inderjit on March 16, 2018

The novel begins with the most classical of Indian scenes; that of the murky, muggy monsoon rains; the novel deals with the most eponymous of Indian characters-the spoiled, feckless only son. Somewhere in between this Kiran Desai is able to write a humorous, if not exactly ground-breaking, story of......more


Quotes

"Enchanting--A meticulously crafted piece of gently comic satire that attests to the author's pitch-perfect ear for character and mood, and her natural storytelling gifts."
--Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"Clearly envisioned and opulently told."
--Chicago Tribune

"Delectable--With this sprightly first novel, Kiran Desai takes her place among the pack of gifted young Indian writers."
--The Wall Street Journal

"Crackling, witty, sharply visual prose--[Desai] is a delightfully funny, amiable satirist."
--Atlantic Monthly

"A festival of comic eccentricity--exudes charisma, poetry, and joy in language and life."
--Baltimore Sun

"A charming, lyrical fable about destiny and the nature of kinship."
--Harper's Bazaar

"Wryly hilarious--a roller-coaster ride through the nonsense of chance and human foolishness."
--Portland Oregonian