Solving the Puzzle of Fiction w. KARAN MAHAJAN

Episode 24

Karan Mahajan is the author of Family Planning, a finalist for the International Dylan Thomas Prize, and The Association of Small Bombs, which was shortlisted for the 2016 National Book Awards, won the 2017 New York Public Library Young Lions Award, and was named one of the New York Times Book Review's "Ten Best Books of 2016." In 2017, he was selected as one of Granta's Best of Young American Novelists. His essays and criticism have appeared in the New York Times, The New Yorker Online, The New Republic, and other venues. Originally from New Delhi, he resides in upstate New York.

Discussed In This Episode

"I think one tends to avoid one's deepest material." Feeling stuck between places. Writing each draft over. Fiction as a puzzle you're constantly solving. Getting an MFA after your first book. Why he'll never write another funny novel. What (and what not) to explain to readers about your culture. Telling instead of showing. How people are irrational. Let your bad memory work for you. A book as one long thought. How to answer the question "What's your novel about?"

Solving the Puzzle of Fiction w. KARAN MAHAJAN

Episode 24

Discussed In This Episode

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