Kirin Narayan

Gita Das, a shy Berkeley graduate student from India, is both alarmed and charmed when a family friend foretells that Gita will meet her future husband in March 1984. But as Gita nervously scrutinizes every man she encounters, she must find a middle path between the matrimonial traditions of India and the mercenary courtship rituals of North America. On the whole, she would prefer to burrow away within her research on the folk variations of Hindu legends -- but that, of course, is never an option.

Love, Stars, and All That is a sweet and thoughtful examination of gender roles, academia, and the art of juggling two national identities. It is not always gentle or even-handed in its depictions of secondary buffoons, such as lecherous professors and self-absorbed poets, but Gita herself undergoes a marvelous flowering during the course of the novel.… (altro)

Who would expect an ethnographer to write a how-to book using, of all authors, Chekhov as the model? There is something whimsical about the choice, but in Narayan’s hands Chekhov does serve to encourage the empathy and attention to sense and scene necessary for good writing. In addition to Checkhov, who serves more as a muse than as a direct model, Narayan pulls examples widely from a variety of excellent writers, including Amitav Ghosh, the anthropologist Michael D. Jackson, and Nancy Scheper-Hughes. This book is not about ethnographic research. It does not address anthropological theory, nor even how to engage with theory, nor how to frame questions, shape parameters or go about observing, recording and interpreting. Narayan points out that there are plenty of other books that address theory and method, and emphasizes that her book offers examples and prompts to encourage rich, descriptive prose, no matter what framework, theory or even genre is in play. For writers who feel strangled by the usual academic prose, or who just want a friendly nudge forward, this book will be a charming companion.… (altro)

Gita Das is attending graduate school at Berkeley. Before leaving India, an astrologer told her she would meet the man of her dreams in a certain month of a certain year. The time has arrived, and Gita is seeing prospects everywhere. More than a simple love story, Gita’s life takes twists and turns both in the U. S. and in India. Can one have love without marriage? Should one accept a marriage without love? Gita has always been entranced by the stories of her youth, and the beautiful saris her Saroj Aunty has named. But what are the stories telling her and can they help her find a future in America? And if she finds her path, will her family still in India be able to understand and accept it? Narayan, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has written an empathic narrative giving new perspective of two cultures.… (altro)