It is the not-so-distant future, and in the belligerent wannabe superpower that is India, Para, a tomboyish fighter pilot, flies sorties against the Pak-Saudi alliance. She has been trained to kill, to be a deadly instrument for the military ambitions of an ultra-modern, ultra-competitive state. And yet it is less than a hundred years since her smart, sarcastic, principled grandparents met on a non-violent demonstration against British rule in Ahmedabad, falling in love as they were trampled by the mounted police. Their only son, Paresh, grows up to drift through life, torn in different directions all at once, though he does produce an entirely spirited daughter - Para.How did India get to Para from her grandparents? And what happened to the generation in between, of Paresh and his peers? Moving between crowd scenes and midair battles, between sexual farce and social embarrassment, Joshi maps the arcs made by these four striking characters, by the family they make up, and by their country across a complex and confused century.

The Last Jet-Engine Laugh

Joshi, Ruchir

Literature & Fiction

Flamingo

The most arresting Indian novel since Arundhati Roy's 'The God of Small Things'. Thirty years from now, old Paresh Bhatt settles down to drink an espresso (made, somewhat ostentatiously, with real water), and reflects on the key moments of his life. But even as Paresh recalls his parents' courtship during the freedom movement of the 1930s, his daughter, Para, is in the air - a crack fighter pilot in the belligerent Indian airforce, mounting raids against the Pak-Saudi alliance...Sharp, modern, fluent and varied, this is a debut novel from India of an utterly original kind. Joshi has found a style and a form in which to say new things about the Indian experience in a new manner.

The last jet-engine laugh

HarperCollins Publishers, India

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Books by Joshi, Ruchir

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Joshi, Ruchir. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Last Jet-Engine Laugh

The last jet-engine laugh