In these eleven stories, Rohinton Mistry opens our eyes and our hearts to the rich, complex patterns of life inside Firozsha Baag, an apartment building in Bombay. Here are Jaakaylee, the ghost-seer, and Najamai, the only owner of a refrigerator in Firozsha Baag; Rustomji the Curmudgeon and Kersi, the young boy whose life threads through the book and who narrates the final story as an adult in Toronto. We see their passions, their worst fears, their betrayals, and their humorous acts of revenge. Witty and poignant, in turns, these intersecting stories create a finely textured mosaic of lives and illuminate a world poised between the old ways and the new.

Rohinton Mistry’s previous novel, A Fine Balance, received the Giller Prize, the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. The three-time Booker nominee is also the author of Such a Long Journey, winner of the Governor General’s Award, the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book, and the Smithbooks/Books in Canada First Novel Award. Born in Bombay, he has lived in Canada since 1975.

Rohinton Mistry's profile page

WILLIAM NEW is the author and editor of more than fifty books. A native of Vancouver, where he currently lives, he was educated at the University of British Columbia (where he later taught for 37 years) and the University of Leeds. From his first days as a student at UBC, he has been committed to the importance of Canadian writing and to making it accessible to readers around the world. His academic works include A History of Canadian Literature, the massive Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada, and several extensive studies of irony and the short story. Writing more personally, his Borderlands: how we talk about Canada and Grandchild of Empire consider how local perspectives inform our political judgments. A prize-winning teacher and researcher, he was awarded the Royal Society of Canada's Lorne Pierce Medal, and for his services to creative and critical writing he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2006.

William New's creative publications include five books for children (including the internationally honoured The Year I Was Grounded) and eleven previous collections of poetry (including Underwood Log, shortlisted for the Governor General's Award; YVR, winner of the City of Vancouver Award; and New & Selected Poems). His latest collection, Neighbours, questions whether any of us ever lives alone.

These poems ask what it means to live near, whether in close proximity or in ragtag memory--and to consider what happens when closeness dissolves and a neighbourhood dies.

W.H. New's profile page

“A writer of formidable strength and imagination…these stories are like little bits of life glistening on the page.”
–Toronto Star

“A fine collection…informed by a tone of gentle compassion for seemingly insignificant lives.”
–New York Times

“The crowded, throbbing life of India is brilliantly captured in this series of stories.…”
–Sunday Times, London (U.K.)

“Rohinton Mistry explores quicksand territory with intelligence, compassion, wit, and memorable flair.”
–Los Angeles Times Book Review