The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan KarunatilakaA searing satire set amid the murderous mayhem of Sri Lanka beset by civil warColombo, 1990. Maali Almeida, war photographer, gambler and closet gay, has woken up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. His dismembered body is sinking in the Beira Lake and he has no idea who killed him. At a time when scores are settled by death squads, suicide bombers and hired goons, the list of suspects is depressingly long, as the ghouls and ghosts who

This essential guide also includes a section on crystal skulls

000 feet somewhere over the Pacific Ocean

and ignorance

jokes and wisdom

Through client stories and personal experiences

repulsed by what he saw as the softness and rigidity of Western life - 'the machines

" Alternating between tough and gentle

At twenty-three

But things don’t go according to plan

"Having exposed an adored racing figure as a monster

Written with a bone-dry sense of humour and a fascination with the oddness of existence The Emigrants is highly original in its heady mix of fact

it is an escape for both — in particular for Julio