The Namesake: A Portrait of the Film Based on the Novel by Jhumpa Lahiri

This slim, glossy volume pays homage to both Jhumpa Lahiri's bestselling novel, The Namesake, and its Hollywood adaptation while also shedding light on the creative process and friendship between author and director. In her opening remarks, Lahiri briefly describes the novel's conception (""The Namesake began as a note to myself, casually jotted down at some point in my twenties, consisting of the phrase 'A boy named Gogol'""), its slow route to publication and later its blossoming into film (""how strange and wonderful to watch the story I had invented, alone and over the course of so many years, being collectively wrestled with anew""). Lahiri emphasizes that collaborating with director Nair was a rewarding experience. For her part, Nair describes her interest in Lahiri's novel as immediate: ""The Namesake was many of my worlds: the Calcutta I left behind as a teenager, the Cambridge where I went to college, and the New York where I now live."" The two women's essays are followed by dozens of vivid images-from both the film set and the India of Nair and Lahiri's memories-interspersed between passages from the novel. Lovers of the film and novel will relish this tribute.