Suffused with Hindu mythology, this story of one apartment building becomes a metaphor for the social and religious divisions of contemporary India, and Vishnu's ascent of the staircase parallels the soul's progress through the various stages of existence. As Vishnu closes in on the riddle of his own mortality, we wonder whether he might not be the god Vishnu, guardian not only of the fate of the building and its occupants, but of the entire universe.

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 01/17/2001
ISBN: 9780393050424
Pages: 295
Weight: 1.39lbs
Size: 9.62h x 6.46w x 1.11d
Award: ALA Notable Books - Winner
Award: Discover Great New Writers - Winner
Award: PEN/Faulkner Award - Nominee
Award: Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award - Finalist
Award: Kiriyama Prize - Nominee
Award: L.A. Times Book Prize - Nominee

Review Citations: Booklist 07/01/2000 pg. 1977
Library Journal Prepub Alert 09/15/2000 pg. 56
Publishers Weekly 11/06/2000 pg. 68
Kirkus Reviews 11/15/2000 pg. 1569
Library Journal 12/01/2000 pg. 193
New York Times 01/28/2001 pg. 8
Entertainment Weekly 02/09/2001 pg. 70
Time 02/12/2001 pg. 85
People Weekly 03/05/2001 pg. 51
Booklist 11/15/2000 pg. 620
New York Times 06/03/2001 pg. 23
New York Times 12/02/2001 pg. 64
Commonweal 12/07/2001 pg. 23
Entertainment Weekly 12/21/2001 pg. 134
Booklist 06/01/2002 pg. 1678
Booklist 11/15/2003 pg. 574
Library Journal 09/15/2000
Library Journal 12/20/2000