They say that young writers begin with fantasy because they have no life experience, gravitate to reality as they age, then revisit fantasy in maturity. Irani is a very young writer with a world of potential. He is another graduate of the prestigious UBC Writing Program. Set in Bombay, a young man who has lost an arm, sets out to find it, and has a long series of fabulous adventures, meeting wild, weird, and flamboyant characters along the way.
He definitely has a way with words and the pages are spattered with gold nuggets of language. Describing Bombay : "It is very strange. There is magic, poverty, thievery, music, pollution, dancing, murder, and lust." Describing mosquitoes around a light bulb: "They stick to it and exchange places with each other, a small dance to pass the time between transmissions of malaria." Describing some dancers: "When hips curve, it is a woman's way of telling you she wants to kill you." There is a smirking grossness about some of the scenes (let's see if we can make the reader vomit); a leper bites off his finger and hands it to the main character. As I've pointed out several times in these pages, it is almost impossible to care about a character who doesn't even have a name. I was not moved by anything this young man experienced because he was just a nameless lump, even though we eventually learn why he lost his arm and what direction his future will take. Irani shows a great talent for words and I feel that when he can create a sympathetic protagonist his potential will know no bounds.