Wild Fictions, Amitav Ghosh
Wild Fictions, Amitav Ghosh
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Wild Fictions
Essays on Literature, Empire, and the Environment

Author: Amitav Ghosh

Narrator: Ranjit Madgavkar

Unabridged: 19 hr

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/18/2026

Synopsis

A collection of essays on themes central to Ghosh’s work: imperialism and decolonization, climate change, and the stories of ordinary people making lives amid these historical forcesWild Fictions brings together Amitav Ghosh’s extraordinary writings on subjects that have obsessed him over the last twenty-five years: literature and language; climate change and the environment; and human lives, travel, and discoveries. Threaded throughout the collection are his reflections on the spaces that we inhabit and how we occupy them. From the significance of the commodification of the clove to the diversity of the mangrove forests in Bengal and the radical fluidity of multilingualism, Wild Fictions is a powerful refutation of imperial violence, a fascinating exploration of the fictions we weave to absorb history, and a reminder of the importance of sensitivity and empathy.With the combination of moral passion, intellectual curiosity, and literary elegance that defines his writing, Ghosh makes listeners understand the world in new and urgent ways. Together, the pieces in Wild Fictions chart a course that allows us to heal our relationships and restore the delicate balance with the volatile landscapes to which we all belong.Includes a PDF of additional resources

About Amitav Ghosh

Amitav Ghosh is a novelist and essayist whose many books include the acclaimed Ibis Trilogy (Sea of Poppies, River of Smoke, and Flood of Fire), Gun Island, Jungle Nama: A Story of the Sundarban, The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable, and The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis, the latter two published by the University of Chicago Press.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Abhimanyu Lodha on January 11, 2025

TL;DR: 7.5/10 for me. Amitav Ghosh is perhaps not the kind of writer who sits in a beautiful seaside café with a fountain pen (or a Mac if you are not old school), conjuring hauntingly imaginative stories. To me, he appears to be a hustler. On his feet, out in the real world - researching, engaging......more

Goodreads review by Nirbhay on February 12, 2025

Amitav Ghosh, famous for his incredibly evocative fiction, has recently switched gears and begun writing more non-fiction. Contrary to the title, Wild Fictions is a collection of his non-fiction essays, lectures, conversations, book reviews and excerpts from other works (much of which has been previ......more

Goodreads review by Pooja on September 17, 2025

When I picked this up, I thought a collection of essays would make for a comfortable read (after all, it’s Ghosh!) - but it turned out to be long, layered, and a challenge to finish. Drawn from his lectures, published essays, website posts, and even exchanges with other writers and thinkers, the book......more

Goodreads review by Rebekka on August 06, 2025

Wild fictions is a collection of nonfiction pieces divided into six sections: Migration, Witness, Travel, Narrative, Conversation, and Climate. Each section holds essays that explore real-life events, personal accounts, and literary reflections centered around themes of displacement, caste, identity......more

Goodreads review by Preetam on July 09, 2025

Reading Wild Fictions: Essays on Literature, Empire, and the Environment by Amitav Ghosh during a slow, breathless day—classes off, lungs a little tight, tea cooling beside me—felt like wandering into a quiet but urgent forest of thought. I had been dipping into the book since February, between nove......more

Quotes

“Ranjit Madgavkar narrates these essays…His strong but clear Indian accent never lets listeners forget that author Ghosh is a native of West Bengal, a fact that explains Ghosh’s strong interest in colonialism, anti-colonialism, and the history of South Asia…Even without knowledge of South Asia, listeners will comprehend these essays because Madgavkar gets across the emotions.” Kirkus Audiobook Reviews

“Ghosh is one of the most important living writers writing in English.” Los Angeles Review of Books, praise for the author

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