Rating: 
Summary: Stories to be Savored
Review: In "When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine," one of the stories in this outstanding collection, the 10-year old narrator savors the candies Mr. Pirzada gives her, enjoying just one each night. So it was with me, indulging in Ms. Lahiri's stories one by one over nine evenings. Ranging from 13 to 28 pages, these are not happy stories. Yet a certain optimism bubbles up as the characters persevere through melancholy themes of displacement and estrangement and loss. Ms. Lahiri's language is a warm breeze, carrying the reader into and through the story ... and at the end of each, you will find your eyes focused not on the page, but through the page as if at the actual scene that just wrapped. Absolutely not to be missed!
Rating:
Summary: READ THIS BOOK
Review: I read a lot and discovered this author through a book club. This is one of the most compelling authors I have ever encountered. I found myself calling people and reading passages to them-- so beautifully written, so stirring, so universal-- it made no difference that they had not read the book and were unfamiliar with the story. This book will stir you physically, the writing is so powerful. Although the characters are mostly Indian, the perspectives and experiences will be embraced by all readers. This is a writer for all of humankind. I have since begun her second book. I'm late to work every day because I cannot stop. Her characters are so real, the stories so gripping in their everyday normalcy and pure expression of humanity, this author is unparalleled by other authors. Lahiri is a national treasure.
Rating: 
Summary: "AS ORDINARY AS IT ALL APPEARS"...
Review: ...these little vignettes from the international lives of mainly Asian characters is anything but. The identification Lahiri establishes between her readers and her characters requires the kind of simple, direct prose, not unlike R.K. Narayan's, where refinement is invisible but delectably evident. Reading these stories is comparable to one's first reaction to the great Russian novels: the fresh realization of the common humanity of all peoples.Lahiri has the grace to make us feel close even to foolishness and timidity and naivete and the wit to make actions logical without being predictable. There is a good deal of surprise hidden among the lines. For instance, the most hapless of our characters, a maltreated shopgirl in "The Treatment of Bibi Haldar" who dreams hopelessly of winning a husband, surprises us with her unexpected tenacity. The setting in the stories is mostly Asian, if not entirely Indian. Expect to get a whiff of lentils, spices, cut onions. Yet, the stories transcend the ethnic or geographical, and are a lingering look into frailties of common human behavior. I've often thought about the characters long after concluding a story. Above all, the stories lend themselves elegantly to repeated reading. A well deserved Pulitzer, and a highly recommended read.
Rating:
Summary: Buy it in hardback
Review: This lyrical collection of short stories transcends cultures and connects all of us through human experience. Beautifully, yet powerfully written! I can't imagine Lahiri improving upon this excellent bit of writing, but I look forward to reading her new novel.
Rating:
Summary: Clean and fluid--not to mention human--storytelling
Review: With her unique gift of perception, Jhumpa Lahiri has captured the human condition from various angles. Even in the most familiar settings and circumstances, a tactile sense of conflict exists within each character. Her writing is clean and precise, but with a rhythm so natural it breathes emotion and atmosphere while the reader forgets they are reading. A very human storyteller.
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Summary: A sense of dislocation
Review: The characters in Lahiri's collection of stories frequently find themselves suffering a sense of dislocation as they go about their lives along the Eastern seaboard, primarily in university towns. These are Indians of all stations, primarily from Calcutta, who try to find a sense of home as they make curry, paint their hands, struggle through arranged marriages, shop for spices and grocery items to make food that reminds them of Home.
These nine stories, full of the colors and sounds, the feel and scent and taste of the world they've left behind, are delicate observations stripped of all nostalgia.
Rating:
Summary: Truly Impressive
Review: I rarely find a short story collection that doesn't contain at least one weak link, but I cannot find one in the nine stories included in INTERPRETER OF MALADIES. Lahiri combines the ruthless efficiency of a highly skilled creator of short fiction with prose that's languid, fluid and seductive. Every character is distinctive and bursting with life; her descriptions of places are animated and easily to visualize. It's difficult to believe that this is Lahiri's first published collection. She writes with a maturity and restraint that's impressive. Another book I'd like to recommend, although quite a departure: THE LOSERS' CLUB by Richard Perez
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Summary: Earnest and poignant
Review: Jhumpa Lahiri's short stories largely revolve around the Bengali community in the United States - a subject she is presumably comfortable with, given that she is a Bengali-American herself. While the socio-cultural setting of the stories is somewhat restricted, the appeal of the stories themselves is universal, revealing poignant facets of ordinary human lives which most of us can identify with. The style is subdued and understated, very much in consonance with the unpretentious nature of the themes chosen. This is not a work typical of an Indian-English author. There is none of the literary demonstrativeness and stylistic exuberance of the Salman Rushdies and Arundhati Roys. Instead, there is a simplicity and sincerity of purpose which strikes a chord with the reader. An excellent first effort and a good launching pad for leaping towards the higher realms of literature.
Rating:
Summary: fantastic collection of short stories
Review: Winner of the Pulitzer Prize I do not usually read short fiction, but when I see the sticker on the front cover that reads "winner of the Pulitzer Prize", I am willing to give the book a chance. Short story collections winning the Pulitzer are rare, just about as rare as a debut winning the prize. This is the debut collection from Jhumpa Lahiri (who has a novel coming out in Sept 2003) and after reading it, I feel that it is definitely worth reading and deserving of the Pulitzer. It is obvious that all of the stories are of a high quality, but there were some that stood out more than others. "The Third and Final Continent" is probably the best of the collection and is simply a stunning story that I did not quite want to end. "Sexy" is a story dealing with adultery and a woman in a relationship with a married man because he makes her feel sexy. The title story and "A Temporary Matter" are also excellent stories. Lahiri's stories all deal with Indians (native to India) and the every day life they live. Most of the stories are set in America with expatriates, but a couple of stories are set in India. More noticeably, these are all human stories and Lahiri captures life so perfectly that we feel that we are living these stories. Even so early in her career, Jhumpa Lahiri is already a master of her craft. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended!
Review: Jhumpa Lahiri writes beautifully, bringing to life situations and characters with timeless appeal. I found myself transported to another place, into the homes and lives of the characters she describes. Lahiri's words flow beautifully on the pages, full of descriptions and images that allow the reader to experience her book as well as read it. The focus in most stories (if not all) is that of human relationships. Most of the stories concentrated on building the characters, exposing human truths that cross cultures and generations. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. My favorite story was "Mrs.Sen's" and "The Third Continent".
I look forward to reading more works in the future by Jhumpa Lahiri.
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