"In this modern-day treasury, we meet: a swimming instructor determined to reenact John Cheever's iconic short story "The Swimmer" in the pools of Mumbai; a famous chef who, overcome by a devastating childhood memory, melts down during an appearance on a New York talk show; a gangster's wife who is convinced she's found the reincarnation of a lost loved one in a penguin from the Mumbai zoo; an illegal immigrant in North Vancouver who is drawn into a pick-up cricket game that may decide his fate. These are just some of the extraordinary characters that animate this wildly imaginative collection of tales about people caught between two worlds. The collection culminates in a gorgeous and emotionally raw denouement: a story exploring the author's own experience of twenty years in Canada as an immigrant, ingeniously blurring the line between fiction and fact."-- Provided by publisher.
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