VIDEO: Stories

In her witty, imaginative debut story collection, Nair dramatizes short, intense episodes in the lives of Indians at home and in America, baring their ambitions and frustrations in vivid prose, with a simplicity informed by psychological wisdom. In "The Curry Leaf Tree," a young man gifted with a sense of smell that enables him to discern the ingredients of any dish loses his gift in his teens and regains it years later, shortly after his arranged marriage takes place. He is thrilled by this new development, but his ill-tempered new wife finds his obsession with food irritating and resists his attempts to instruct her in the fine art of cooking. In "The Sculptor of Sands," a young sculptor makes artistic strides after finding the body of a woman buried in the sand on a beach near his home; his final project in a daring series transforms violent death into breathtaking beauty. Violence is closer to the surface in "Summer," in which a young girl acting the part of a princess in a family play can no longer act her part after the boy-cousin who plays the prince sexually molests her. The title story describes the marital havoc following a previously sexually repressed man's thrilling introduction to porn. Tragic irony is brought home with unassuming seriousness in such stories as "A Warm Welcome to the President, Insh'Allah!" in which a small Indian town prepares (unnecessarily, as it happens) for a visit from its hero, President Clinton. Throughout, Nair's ear for dialogue is spot-on, and varying degrees of rage, exhilaration or confusion are crisply expressed. Her characters' cries of angst can sometimes seem familiar, but all 10 of these stories are winningly and smartly executed. (Apr. 16)