Publisher Description
The Chandaria family—emigrants from the Indian-enclave of Nairobi—have managed to flourish in America. Premchand, the father, is a doctor who has worked doggedly to grow his practice and give his family security; his wife, Urmila, runs a business importing artisanal Kenyan crafts; and their son, Sunil, after quitting the pre-med track, has gotten accepted to a PhD program in philosophy at Harvard. But the parents have kept a very important secret from Sunil: his cousin, Bimal, is actually his older brother. And when this previously hidden history is revealed by an unforeseen accident, and the entire family is forced to return to Nairobi, Sunil reveals his own well-kept, explosive secret: his Jewish-American girlfriend, who has accompanied him to Kenya, is, in fact, already his wife.
Spanning four generations and three continents, The Limits of the World illuminates the vast mosaic of cultural divisions and ethical considerations that shape the ways in which we judge one another’s actions. A dazzling debut novel—written with rare empathy and insight—it is a powerful depiction of how we prevent ourselves, unwittingly and otherwise, from understanding the people we are closest to.
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“Narrators Priya Ayyar and Ron Butler work together to chart the ups and downs of the Chandaria family…Ayyar sounds young, hopeful, and determined as Sunil, the rebellious son who doesn’t want to be a doctor or marry an Indian woman. She describes his contrary life at an upbeat, energetic tempo that captures Sunil’s attempts to integrate into American culture. Butler creates a memorable character in Bimal, the cousin who lives in Kenya. He delivers Bimal’s unique accented English with a gentle cadence. Ayyar and Butler trade off chapters, showcasing their talents and keeping listeners entertained throughout.”
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AudioFile
About Jennifer Acker
Jennifer Acker is founder and editor-in-chief of the Common. She has an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars. Her short stories have been published in n+1, Guernica, and the Literary Review, among others. Translations and essays have appeared or are forthcoming in Slate, VQR, Harper’s, Ploughshares, the Millions, the New Inquiry, and the San Francisco Chronicle. Acker teaches at Amherst College, and she was a Faculty Fellow at NYU, Abu Dhabi. She lives in western Massachusetts.
About the Narrators
Priya Ayyar is an audiobook narrator, actor, and writer with a BFA and MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Her acting credits for television and film include Law & Order: Criminal Intent, All My Children, and the documentary The Children of War. She has appeared on stage in War of the Unheard, Aminta, and The Road Home, and she has written and performed in the plays Karmic Fusion and Losing Remote Control.
James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time. He is the creator of unforgettable characters and series, including Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Effing Smith, and Maximum Ride, and of breathtaking true stories about the Kennedys, John Lennon, and Princess Diana, as well as our military heroes, police officers, and ER nurses. He has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton and Dolly Parton, told the story of his own life in James Patterson by James Patterson, and received an Edgar Award, nine Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.