The Death of Vishnu

First edition. Sm. 4to. Pp. [x], 329, [6]. Publisher's black cloth, lettered in purple foil to spine; mauve endpapers. Ribbon-marker sewn in. Jacket design by William Webb (priced at £16.99 to front flap).

Signed and dated by Author to title-page.

Debut novel. The first in a trilogy all named after Hindu Gods, which was followed by The Age of Shiva (2008), and bookended by The City of Devi (2013). A 2001 New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Winner of the Barnes and Noble 2001 Discover Great New Writers Award for Fiction; long-listed for the 2001 Booker Prize and a finalist for the 2002 PEN/Faulkner Award as well as the First Fiction category of the 2002 Los Angeles Times Book Awards. Author was named by Time magazine as a "Person to Watch" in 2000. An excerpt, "The Seven Circles" first appeared in The New Yorker.

Vishnu, the resident odd-job man in a Bombay apartment block, lies dying on the staircase, while his neighbours squabble over who should settle the ambulance fee. A metaphor for the social and religious divisions of contemporary India suffused with Hindu mythology and the exuberance of Bombay cinema. "A finely observed comedy of manners that evolves into searing tragedy." –Los Angeles Times