The Abduction of Sita  •  R. K. Narayan LITERATURE •  2006 •  PAPER  • 128 PAGES Narayan's version of the Hindu epic of the evil lord Ravana, the princess Sita and her husband Rama. With the help of the brave monkey Hanuman, Rama journeys across the world to get her back. (IDA335, $8.95)
Gods, Demons and Others  •  R. K. Narayan  •  R.K. Laxman LITERATURE •  1993 •  PAPER  • 241 PAGES Hindu myths and stories as freely adapted by Narayan, one of India's foremost writers. The collection includes material from both the Ramayana and the Mahabarata. These tales are as wonderful to read as they are revealing of India's religious traditions. (IDA101, $21.00)
The Guide  •  R. K. Narayan LITERATURE •  2006 •  PAPER  • 240 PAGES A comic look at the life of a rogue, set in Malgudi, a fictional town in southern India like many of Narayan's novels. Originally published in 1958. (IDA310, $14.00)
Malgudi Days  •  R. K. Narayan  •  Jhumpa Lahiri LITERATURE •  2006 •  PAPER  • 272 PAGES • FAVORITE Wonderful tales about a fictional South Indian town by a beloved Indian writer. Malgudi is a composite of Narayan's two hometowns -- Mysore and Madras -- populated by quirky characters whose unique approaches to tradition and modernity are the stuff of great short stories. (IDA59, $15.00)
Mr Sampath -- The Printer of Malgudi, The Financial Expert, Waiting for the Mahatma  •  R. K. Narayan LITERATURE •  2006 •  HARD COVER  • 616 PAGES An Everyman's Library edition. The three novels brought together in this volume, all written after India's independence, are masterpieces of social comedy, rich in local color and abounding in affectionate humor and generosity of spirit. Mr. Sampath -- The Printer of Malgudi is the story of a businessman who adapts to the collapse of his weekly newspaper by shifting to screenplays, only to have the glamour of it all go to his head. In The Financial Expert, a man of many hopes but few resources spends his time under a banyan tree dispensing financial advice to those willing to pay for his knowledge. In Waiting for the Mahatma, a young drifter meets the most beautiful girl he has ever seen -- an adherent of Mahatma Gandhi -- and commits himself to Gandhi's Quit India campaign, a decision that will test the integrity of his ideals against the strength of his passions. (IDA336, $25.00)
Mr. Sampath, The Printer of Malgudi  •  R. K. Narayan LITERATURE •  1981 •  PAPER  • 220 PAGES A handsome edition of one of Narayan's funniest tales, which features Mr. Sampath, the equanimious printer of a failing local newspaper. When the paper folds, Mr. Sampath finds his editor a new job as a scriptwriter for the movies, and hilarious hijinks ensue. (IDA182, $12.00)
The Painter of Signs  •  R. K. Narayan LITERATURE •  2006 •  PAPER  • 160 PAGES Narayan's tale about Raman, a simple, pious sign painter who is deeply set in his work and routine -- until a spirited young free-thinker named Daisy arrives to bring birth control to the village. Raman falls in love and finds his life anything but routine. Set in Narayan's fictional city of Malgudi. (IDA341, $13.00)
The Ramayana, A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic  •  R. K. Narayan LITERATURE •  2006 •  PAPER  • 192 PAGES Novelist Narayan's translation of the adventures of the god Vishnu incarnated as Prince Rama, the great Hindu epic tale of heroism, love and fate. (IDA311, $13.00)
Swami and Friends, The Bachelor of Arts, The Dark Room, The English Teacher  •  R. K. Narayan LITERATURE •  2006 •  HARD COVER  • 648 PAGES An Everyman's Library edition. Swami and Friends introduces us to Narayan's beloved fictional town of Malgudi, where ten-year-old Swaminathan's excitement about his country's initial stirrings for independence competes with his ardor for cricket and all other things British. The Bachelor of Arts is a poignant coming-of-age novel about a young man flush with first love, but whose freedom to pursue it is hindered by the fixed ideas of his traditional Hindu family. In The Dark Room, Narayan's portrait of aggrieved domesticity, the docile and obedient Savitri, like many Malgudi women, is torn between submitting to her husband's humiliations and trying to escape them. The title character in The English Teacher, Narayan's most autobiographical novel, searches for meaning when the death of his young wife deprives him of his greatest source of happiness. (IDA337, $25.00)