One Amazing Thing

by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Book Overview

An acclaimed novel by the author of The Mistress of Spices, and Before We Visit the Goddess. Jhumpa Lahiri praises: "One Amazing Thing collapses the walls dividing characters and cultures; what endures is a chorus of voices in one single room."

Late afternoon sun sneaks through the windows of a passport and visa office in an unnamed American city. Most customers and even most office workers have come and gone, but...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1401341586
• ISBN13: 9781401341589
• Release Date: December 2010
• Publisher: Hachette Books
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.1" x 7.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

The magic of stories is revealed in a novel of haunting simplicity

Following an earthquake severe enough to damage the building containing the Indian consulate nine people are trapped in the visa office located in its basement. Seven of them are there to apply for an Indian visa, two are the last remaining office workers. One of the applicants, a student of Medieval Literature, has brought her copy of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales with her. This suggests to her the idea of having each of the trapped people tell a story, some encounter with one amazing thing that may help to pass the time and keep their minds off the stifling conditions and the increasing mortal danger. As in Chaucer's poem all of these characters come from disparate backgrounds and are on a pilgrammage (of sorts). The multicultural background of these characters creates a microcosm of the world in a room, a stationary Pequod in which human frailty and the universality of suffering seems never to deter the quest for happiness or our incessant search for meaning. As they tell their tales, some with an autumnal poignance that is like the fast dying light of the early setting sun, others that are filled with an anger and bitterness that seems to increasingly typify an alternate American experience for those caught in the snare of recent history, we discern something deeper in the manner in which the author lets these stories unfold. As the characters struggle on the knife-edge of calamity, living a nearly posthumous existence even as they try to fend off the darkness, we are engrossed in their past struggles as much as their current travails. Through Divakaruni's creative alchemy we are drawn to the power of stories to reveal who we were, what we are and what we hope to become. As the darkness draws near, we watch these troubled lives begin their ghostly flickering, entombed in what one of them describes as a "damp mausoleum". The author shows us with stunning simplicity and skill that after we die all that may remain are our stories. And for the solace they offer and the instruction they bring these stories need to be told as much as they need to be heard. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is a writer at home in our prosaic world as well as the more magical world of wonder and infinite possibilities. Though the world that is depicted in this superb novel is recognisably ours, written in lithe, sinewy prose that paints scenes of an almost pictorial immediacy, there is a kind-of magic at the margins. All of the stories related by the characters have an unfinished ambiguity or suggest that more is to come. The novel itself has a similar quality. The room that holds these psychic pilgrims is a kind-of purgatory or perhaps the representation of the strange boundary between death and rebirth. As the characters relate their suffering and sins in a form of expiation, we are reminded of the power of illusion - of Maya - to deceive as well as to comfort and enlighten. Without our illusions we are naked and vulnerable. Divakaruni uses images such as an aurora to sugg

Amazing storytellers

RATING: 5 out of 5 Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's new book, One Amazing Thing is precisely that. One amazing collection of story tellers that all end up in the Indian Consulate in an unnamed (San Francisco) city in the U.S. They are able to tell their individual stories to each other because they are trapped in the basement of the building when an earthquake hits and traps them there. A Black American man, ex military, straight as an arrow kind of person, An elderly Chinese woman who appears to speak no English with her young, Americanized granddaughter, a young, Americanized Indian college woman, a young Indian Americanized man that appears to be Muslim, an aging American white couple, and of course, the Indian employees of the consulate. What follows is nothing short of brilliant. This is not simply a collection of short stories strung together in one book, but intertwining stories that impact the other characters, and reflect the baggage that they each have been carrying through their lives. Ms. Divakaruni has a unique talent for timing and relationships that holds you to page after page. You will not be disappointed in this amazing novel. If you have not read her other works, it will make you want to rush out and buy all of them.

Satisfying, well-crafted, and a beautiful read

One Amazing Thing drew me in from the start. The book opens from the point of view of the graduate student as she surveys the Indian Embassy and its occupants during the start of the earthquake. Her voice is accessible, witty, and sympathetic. The perspective shifts seamlessly from one character to another, partly through each person's sharing of the "one amazing thing" from his or her life. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni has woven together nine fascinating and brave stories from seemingly nondescript people. Their shared storytelling helps the captives survive their harrowing experience and it gifts us with a satisfying, well-crafted, and beautiful read. ISBN-10: 1401340997 - Hardcover $23.00 Publisher: Voice; 1 edition (February 2, 2010), 240 pages. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Review From Books & Wine

One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is a smattering of short stories within the context of a larger story. Basically an earth quake hits some town in California, so I think nine people are trapped in the Indian Consulate office. These people are all panicing and unhappy until Uma, a grad student who reads awesome books like The Canterbury Tales comes up with the idea to have all who are trapped share one amazing story from their lives. The premise sounds rather simple, but I felt these short stories provided more insight and character development than some novels I've read. If you had to pick one amazing thing from your life to share with someone, I would think you would share something which is truly representative of the type of person you are. I mean, there is the type of thing you would consider amazing, I'm sure we all have different ideas of what is amazing. Would you chose something small? Or something big? I enjoyed the diverse cast of characters. There was Cameron, the African-American who had a fabulous story about why he wanted to visit India. Mangalam, the boss of the consulate who has an interesting reason to be in America. Lily, the Chinese-American teenager and her grandmother - I think I loved Lily's story the most. Tariq - a young man strong in his Islamic beliefs. Mr. and Mrs. Pritchett - the only white characters, Mr. Pritchett's story literally made my eyes water. I know you probably expect each character's story to have a common thread, but they don't. Each story shared offers a glimpse into the life of a character which left me wanting more than just the single look. The writing style was gorgeous. For example, this quote "When I Was A Child,' Jiang began, 'I lived inside a secret." Doesn't that just leave you wanting more? Jiang's story is again, sad, but lovely. It left me imagining Chinatown within India. Strange right? The pacing was fairly fast, because as said the short stories are interspersed within the reaction to the earthquake, so when a story would end, you would see how the characters are dealing with the quake. I was literally unable to put this book down, the stories were so compelling. I read it in two sittings.

Bridget's Review

Nine people are stuck together. They have survived an earthquake and are now working together to survive. There is a teenager, a couple, a young man who suffered on 9/11, an ex-soldier, a grandmother and two people who are about to cheat on their spouses. To pass the time and release some tension, they decide to tell a true story about themselves. After learning about life from another point of view they begin to appreciate the life they had and gain new perspective on the life they want to lead. This is an emotionally charged novel that digs deep into your soul. When we are pushed to the limit our need for survival creates a way for us to manage almost any situation. Every now and then, you need to kick back and think about the one amazing thing that has happened in your life. Sometimes you need to pick up a book that is going to show you the deeper meaning of being human. This is the perfect novel to show you what you need to see and appreciate the possibilities that life offers.