Being Here: Stories

Being Here: Stories
ISBN-10
0813182549
ISBN-13
9780813182544
Series
Being Here
Category
Fiction
Pages
158
Language
English
Published
2022-02-28
Publisher
University Press of Kentucky
Author
Manini Nayar

Description

"We are all now writing stories. Sometimes in memory, sometimes in air. The wind lifts and passes us in gusts. Our stories scatter over continents, camouflaged histories we cannot share." In Being Here, Manini Nayar brings together a finely crafted collection of interconnected stories that follow "the daily miracle" of her characters' inner lives. Nayar brings to the forefront immigrant women making their way in the world as mothers, as wives, as outliers, and as rebels. She writes about their insistence on autonomy, the absurdity of the struggles they face, and their occasional triumphs. These stories loop and double back across time and locales, linking characters through memory while illumining lives forever changed by an offhand phrase, an act of will, or an unsought encounter. Readers will meet a wide array of characters, but it is Nina with whom they will become most familiar, as she appears throughout the collection: first, as a young wife brought to the US by her husband, Siddharth Vellodi; second, as an older sister; and third, as a divorced mother whose daughter's fateful rebellion remains the mysterious and incandescent center of the stories. Nayar's exploration of inward lives as the locus of dramatic action and events allows both characters and readers to grapple with simply being. In doing so, Nayar reveals the performative aspects of language—particularly its ability to create, destroy, and heal connections. In poetic and eloquent prose, Being Here constructs a luminous collage of restless immigrants united by their shared deference to a brave new journey. In their burgeoning voices another America is found, both latent and radiantly alive.

Other editions

Similar books

  • Earthly Pleasures: A Novel
    By Karen Neches

    Ryan's photograph had been replaced with Justin Timberlake's. "Get in Synch with Justin on Earthly Pleasures," read the caption. “What are you gaping at?

  • Serial Killer in Paris
    By Thomas Donahue, Karen Donahue

    Just like I know Justin Timberlake. I met him once. But I don't know him.” He nodded. “He's in the business. Geez, you people. So now the police are going ...

  • Balancing Act
    By Jonathan Plummer, Karen Hunter

    There was one sexy Maxwell hit after the next, a few Lionel Richie classics, some— thing by India.Arie and Justin Timberlake, and, of course, John Legend.

  • Truly, Madly, Deeply: A Novel
    By Karen Kingsbury

    A few years ago the department hosted a lip-sync challenge to a Justin Timberlake song, and nearly a hundred community members took part in the video.

  • Dads in Progress Collection: An Anthology
    By Karen Rose Smith

    ... Timberlake's cat and how she climbs up the curtains,” Corrie offered. Kyle looked entranced by that idea. Sam had just reached the doorway when Kyle ...

  • The Daddy Plan
    By Karen Rose Smith

    “I'll tell him all about Mrs. Timberlake's cat and how she climbs up the curtains,” Corrie offered. Kyle looked entranced by that idea.

  • Two Become One
    By Karen Mason

    Before Farrah could even agree, Justin Timberlake was blaring at her down the phone. Farrah wasn't sure if she liked the thought of strange organisations ...

  • The Casual Vacancy
    By J. K. Rowling

    Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations? A big novel about a small town, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling's first novel for adults. It is the work of a storyteller like no other.

  • L'amore che non c'è
    By Karen Lojelo

    La magia vera c'era stata. ... Se conoscete la canzone Timbaland, Nelly Furtado ft Justine Timberlake capirete la natura del ballo e che il seguito furono ...

  • Un dangereux pari - Un si séduisant célibataire
    By Karen Booth, Katherine Garbera

    Soudain la musique changea, passant sur Can't Stop the Feeling ! de Justin Timberlake. ... C'est la chanson du film Les Trolls, crut-elle bon de préciser.