Junglee Girl

By Ginu Kamani and Ginu Kamani

Book Overview

Junglee (stemming from the Sanskrit root "jungle") is used in India to label the wild, the uncivilized, the untamed. Used most commonly as condemnation or censure, it aims to break the spirit of women yearning for personal power. The female protagonists in these eleven stories recklessly pursue their sensual paths through a complex social world that seeks to shut them out. With wily irreverence and a willful rawness, Kamani pulls back the veil of convention, inch by inch, and draws the reader into the disquieting truth of women's lives, charting territory both intimate and bizarre.

This collection of delightful and sometimes provocative stories surprise and arouse...Ginu Kamani's stories are tinged with humour and are often disturbing in their exploration of taboo passions and desires. Kamani is an original storyteller who writes from 'inside' the culture, claiming a rightful space for Indian women to define themselves. -- Pratibha Parmar

Junglee Girl is a delightfully seditious collection of tales, like some profane kama sutra of contemporary India. --San Francisco Review of Books

Ginu Kamani, a gifted, savvy writer, combines such precarious, complex elements as class, caste, gender and eroticism into readable, imaginative and often hilarious tales. -- Publishers Weekly

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1879960400
• ISBN13: 9781879960404
• Release Date: April 1995
• Publisher: Aunt Lute Books
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Refreshing and Risque

Kamani's collection of short stories provides a rare look into South Asian female sexuality. Her characters are fresh and her stories, especially "Waxing the Thing," tackle original ideas in hilarious ways. What makes this book so enjoyable is the skill with which humor is woven into serious (and otherwise largely ignored - who writes books about waxing?) subject matter. Even though the book is made of short stories and not a novel, I wanted to keep reading just to see what new, crazy tale Kamani would produce next. This is neither soft-core porn nor poorly written erotica. It is simply R-rated fiction that will ruffle some reader's feathers, while striking a chord in others. Kamani does use a fair bit of imagination and artistic license in these stories, which may throw off readers looking for a more serious novel. Also, there are one or two stories that drag on for several pages without a clear purpose, but the others are stellar enough to make up for this. The bottom line: Don't read this book if you are uncomfortable talking about sexuality. Do read it if you are looking for a change from the stereotypical, 'life is so hard for women' Indian-American writing. You will not be disappointed.

Enter and Explore

An acquaintance recommended this book. I read it twice and bought four copies for friends. It is thoroughly delightful and engaging. Plus, if one is so inclined, there is plenty of nourishment for the mind. The prose is robust and vital. The narrative voices are confident, assertive and self-assured. Most refreshingly, the language is unadorned and free of the mannerisms so much in vogue in today's fiction. The stories are very readable. Economy and subtlety are Kamani's stock in trade. These are dramatic multi-layered stories: We meet conniving lovers: voyeurs; girls exploring new found sexuality; servants testing the limits of social tethers; a mother fighting off her son's predatory lover; beauty salon patrons arranging for special home services; a blind cat with exotic propensities: a bride who rebels on her wedding day. The tales, nested within and influenced by the hierarchical restraints of Indian religion and nationality, impart Kamani's theme of the "sexual body." The story "The Cure" echoes Lewis Carroll and Franz Kafka: Is the ever-growing "jumbo girl" an Alice; is she the transformed Gregor Samsa; is she asserting her sexual prowess to escape from oppressive conditions; is her growth solely physical? Intriguing questions. No easy answers. Like turning corners into alleys of ambiguity and paradox. Enter and explore.Five stars.

Sexuality for all

Kamani's book of short stories addresses the sexuality of women, and often of young girls in the context of either being in or from India. It includes all kinds of sexuality and heirarchies of power that both arise and fall away when girls explore this aspect of their lives. Very powerful, sometimes shocking, but always rings with truth.... I reccommend this book highly, but be aware that the truth is not always a comfortable thing to look at.

Awesome Book For The Enlightened But Not Whimpy

This is an awesome book! Kumani is so brave to write it. It's very colorful and wonderfully descriptive. I would recommend it for mature readers only. Not for the over religious or nievely educated consumer. If you are intrigued by Asian female writers and can handle a bit of the bizarre, if you are able to be open minded with the frequent disturbing images then hopefully you will enjoy this book! I will look for future books by Ginu Kumani!

A collection of spicy, sensual stories about Indian taboos.

Ginu Kamani's stories bring to life a humorous blend of young women who find themselves defying cultural traditions in today's society. Sexy, spirited, erotic and brutally honest! From "Waxing the Thing" to "Just Between Indians," you'll be dying to read more from this clever writer.