Diary of a Malayali Madman

Prabhakaran makes his English-language debut with a twisty collection featuring Indian characters on the margins. The protagonist of “Wild Goat,” presumed by others to be mentally disabled, becomes an unwilling pawn in his brother’s political ambitions. In “Tender Coconut,” a psychologist fixates on a patient’s story about how the patient was allegedly barred from a temple after befriending one of the temple’s unmarried priestesses. When the psychologist tries to find the temple, he learns more about his patient’s strange habits. In “Pigman,” an accountant goes to work on a pig farm, where the farmers contend with a mysterious disease and competition from a new farm. The novella-length “Invisible Forests” follows the life of an unmarried teacher. Along with monologues about her frustrations with students, which unfurl in one-sided conversations, she recounts with an unsettling detachment political violence and an alarming number of local suicides. The title story follows the circuitous diary of Aagney, who aspires to be a writer like Gogol, but his habit of talking to animals leads to his imprisonment and beatings as a suspected goat thief. Though some might find the stories too aimless, patient readers will appreciate the strange atmosphere and unsettling developments. Fans of contemporary Indian literature ought to take a look. (Feb.)