The Impressionist - Softcover

Praise for The Impressionist

"Delectable, sweeping, empire-savaging, audaciously playful...Kunzru writes with wry certitude and cinematic precision."--The New York Times

"A sprawling, ambitious, shape-shifting novel...Kunzru proves himself a clever, sharply observant writer."--The Washington Post

"Nothing is as it seems in this serpentine Dickensian epic...Kunzru nicely limns the fickle roles race and class play in civilized societies."--People

"A witty, well-crafted comic saga of the dark side of the British Empire."--Financial Times

"Glorious, hilarious. Kunzru has created a book in which we can feel at home in the strangeness of his gorgeous imagination."--Boston Sunday Herald

"Riveting stuff, beautifully written...Superb."--The Times (London)

"The Impressionist is both a great adventure yarn and an exploration of identity, both personal and national...One might be occasionally reminded of Salman Rushdie or Evelyn Waugh (Brideshead Revisited)."--Detroit Free Press

"Superb. Smart, entertaining and engaging on many levels."--Dallas Morning News

"Grand, sprawling, extravagant, lyrical. A work so vibrant and richly imagined that you can smell the incense."--Esquire

"Epic in scale and rich in historical detail, the narrative is deft and swift...carrying the reader along effortlessly. This first novel has startling depth, ambition and craftsmanship."--Time Out London

"A narrative with just the right blend of misadventure, humor, and humiliation...Call Kunzru a modern-day Kipling."--GQ

"Maniacally inventive--a fantastic funhouse of a novel."--Vogue

"The next literary lion."--Independent on Sunday (UK)

At the age of fifteen, Pran Nath Razdan is thrown out onto the streets when the truth of his parentage is revealed, forcing him to re-invent himself over and over to survive as he journeys from Victorian India to Edwardian London where he learns to master his chameleon-like ability to transform himself into whoever and whatever he needs to fulfill his utmost desires. A first novel. Reprint.