We think of immigration as a Western issue but, of course, it isn't.
From Kiran Desai
I love Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, Flannery O'Connor. I read a lot of American writers.
I'm always in the kitchen, cooking and experimenting - I love it. And every now and then I think, 'I should write a cookbook' or, 'I should write for food magazines.' And then I get drawn back to writing fiction again.
I don't think you can write according to a set of rules and laws; every writer is so different.
I feel as comfortable anywhere as I feel uncomfortable anywhere.
When you write on your own, you can write the extremes. No one else is watching and you can really go as far as you need to.
The publishing world is very timid. Readers are much braver.
When I was growing up the publishing world seemed so far away. When my mother wrote a book, she would look up the address of publishers on the backs of the books she owned and send off her manuscript.
In India, if you are from the elite, dogs are extremely important. The breed of the dog indicates your wealth, that you are westernized. The cook, another human being, is on a much lower level than your dog. You see this all the time.
If you write a lovely story about India, you're criticized for selling an exotic version of India. And if you write critically about India, you're seen as portraying it in a negative light - it also seems to be a popular way to present India, sort of mangoes and beggars.
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