A Play for the End of the World by Jai Chakrabarti

Thanks to Emily Reardon of Knopf, I am giving away one print copy of ‘A Play for the End of the World’ by Jai Chakrabarti.

Description Play for the End of the World by Jai Chakrabarti

A dazzling debut novel–set in early 1970’s New York and rural India–the story of a turbulent, unlikely romance, a harrowing account of the lasting horrors of the Second World War, and a searing examination of one man’s search for forgiveness and acceptance.

New York City, 1972. Jaryk Smith, a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto, and Lucy Gardner, a southerner, newly arrived in the city, are in the first bloom of love when they receive word that Jaryk’s oldest friend has died under mysterious circumstances in a rural village in eastern India.

Travelling there alone to collect his friend’s ashes, Jaryk soon finds himself enmeshed in the chaos of local politics and efforts to stage a play in protest against the government–the same play that he performed as a child in Warsaw as an act of resistance against the Nazis. Torn between the survivor’s guilt he has carried for decades and his feelings for Lucy (who, unbeknownst to him, is pregnant with his child), Jaryk must decide how to honor both the past and the present, and how to accept a happiness he is not sure he deserves.

An unforgettable love story, a provocative exploration of the role of art in times of political upheaval, and a deeply moving reminder of the power of the past to shape the present, A Play for the End of the World is a remarkable debut from an exciting new voice in fiction.

Advance Praise Play for the End of the World by Jai Chakrabarti

“ A Play for the End of the World looks deeply at the echoes and overlaps among art, resistance, love, and history. Jai Chakrabarti is a lyrical writer, and this is an impressive debut.”—Meg Wolitzer, best-selling author of The Female Persuasion

 “ In this beautiful, deeply imagined first novel Jai Chakrabarti combines widely disparate moments of the twentieth century: 1970s New York, the Warsaw Ghetto, a pilgrimage to India. In the heat of his art these very different elements are melted down and forged into something suspiciously like hope.”—John Benditt, author of The Boatmaker, winner of the National Jewish Book Award for Debut Fiction

“ An exceptional work of fiction. Expertly plotted and masterfully crafted, A Play for the End of the World is an unforgettable song that honors millions of lives lost due to genocide and political oppression. Already an award-winning short story writer, Jai Chakrabarti pens with the economic intensity and the power of observation that resurrects the past and shines the light of understanding onto the present and future. I could not put this book down!”—Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, internationally best-selling author of The Mountains Sing

About Jai Chakrabarti

JAI CHAKRABARTI’s short fiction has appeared in numerous journals and has been anthologized in The O. Henry Prize Stories, The Best American Short Stories, and awarded a Pushcart Prize. Chakrabarti was an Emerging Writer Fellow with A Public Space and received his MFA from Brooklyn College. He was born in Kolkata, India, and now lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his family. A Play for the End of the World is his first novel.

Website: https://jaichakrabarti.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JaiChakrabarti

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Giveaway Play for the End of the World by Jai Chakrabarti

This giveaway is open to the U.S. only and ends on September 24, 2021 midnight pacific time.  Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

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