The Namesake Audiobook

Quotes

• “The Namesake is that rare thing: an intimate, closely observed family portrait that effortlessly and discreetly unfolds to disclose a capacious social vision…In chronicling more than three decades in the Gangulis’ lives, Ms. Lahiri has not only given us a wonderfully intimate and knowing family portrait, she has also taken the haunting chamber music of her first collection of stories and reorchestrated its themes of exile and identity to create a symphonic work, a debut novel that is as assured and eloquent as the work of a longtime master of the craft.”

  — New York Times

• “This is a fine novel from a superb writer…In the end, this quiet book makes a very large statement about courage, determination, and above all, the majestic ability of the human animal to endure and prosper.”

  — Washington Post

• “Lahiri’s writing is assured and patient, inspiring immediate confidence that we are in trustworthy hands. Lahiri beautifully conveys the émigré’s disorientation, nostalgia, and yearning for tastes, smells, and customs left behind.”

  — Los Angeles Times Book Review

• “Poignant…A novel of exquisite and subtle tension, spanning two generations and continents and a plethora of emotional compromises in between…The Namesake is a story of guilt and liberation; it speaks to the universal struggle to extricate ourselves from the past—from family and obligation and the curse of history.”

  — Boston Globe

• “A moving first novel…Lahiri writes beautifully controlled prose.”

  — San Francisco Chronicle

• “Memorable fiction…Lahiri’s gift is for shrewd insight into character done up in elegantly understated prose…Astringent and clear-eyed in thought, vivid in its portraiture, attuned to American particulars and universal yearnings.”

  — Newsday

• “Extraordinary…An insightful and descriptive take on family, tradition, and self-acceptance…Jhumpa Lahiri is an accomplished novelist of the first rank.”

  — San Diego Union-Tribune

• “The Namesake…confirms what her first book suggested—that she’s a writer of uncommon grace and sympathy.”

  — San Jose Mercury News

• “The Namesake does such a remarkable job of depicting the importance of family and how people cope in unfamiliar terrain that it is one of the best works of fiction published this year.”

  — Seattle Times

• “Achingly artful, Lahiri’s first novel showcases her prodigious gifts.”

  — Baltimore Sun

• “A book to savor, certainly one of the best of the year, and further proof that this immensely talented writer’s prizewinning ways are far from over.”

  — Atlanta Journal-Constitution

• “A poignant, beautifully crafted tale of culture shock…Reading it, anyone will understand how it feels to be a cultural outsider.”

  — Fort Worth Morning Star-Telegram

• “Emotionally charged and deeply poignant, Lahiri’s tale provides panoramic views of her characters’ lives.”

  — Philadelphia Inquirer

• “An enjoyably old-fashioned novel…written in clear, quietly elegant prose…A gifted storyteller, Lahiri has proven her literary mettle.”

  — Raleigh News and Observer

• “The Namesake is a quietly moving first novel…Intensely absorbing…Locates the universality in precisely evoked individuality.”

  — Columbus Dispatch

• “Lahiri’s multiple gifts for storytelling, character development, and delicately precise imagery result in a rare and wonderful tale.”

  — Orlando Sentinel

• “Against all that is irrational and inevitable about life, Lahiri posits the timeless, borderless eloquence and permanence of great writing.”

  — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

• “Sparingly beautiful prose…Lahiri’s novel ultimately dramatizes a common experience shared by all people: the search for identity.”

  — Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel

• “Lahiri’s style in this novel, as in her short fiction, is graceful and beautiful.”

  — San Antonio Express-News

• “Hugely appealing…Gracefully written and filled with well-observed details, Lahiri’s novel—like her hero—manages to bridge two very different societies and to give us the absolute best of both.”

  — People

• “This eagerly anticipated debut novel deftly expands on Lahiri’s signature themes of love, solitude, and cultural disorientation.”

  — Harper’s Bazaar

• “Lahiri’s graceful first novel more than fulfills the promise of her Pulitzer-winning story collection…The exquisitely detailed saga of the Ganguli family…becomes the classic story of American immigration and assimilation.”

  — Entertainment Weekly

• “Lahiri handles issues of assimilation and belonging with her trademark mix of quiet observation and heartbreaking honesty.”

  — Elle