The Legend of Pradeep Mathew: A Novel [Paperback]

Winner of the Commonwealth Book Prize

* Winner of the $50,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature *
* APublishers Weekly First Fiction Pick for Spring 2012 *

A crazy ambidextrous delight. A drunk and totally unreliable narrator runs alongside the reader insisting him or her into the great fictional possibilities of cricket. --Michael Ondaatje

Aging sportswriter W.G. Karunasena's liver is shot. Years of drinking have seen to that. As his health fades, he embarks with his friend Ari on a madcap search for legendary cricket bowler Pradeep Mathew. En route they discover a mysterious six-fingered coach, a Tamil Tiger warlord, and startling truths about their beloved sport and country. A prizewinner in Sri Lanka, and a sensation in India and Britain,The Legend of Pradeep Mathewby Shehan Karunatilaka is a nimble and original debut that blends cricket and the history of modern Sri Lanka into a vivid and comedic swirl.

Shehan Karunatilakalives and works in Singapore. He has written advertisements, rock songs, travel stories, and basslines. This is his first novel.

Karunatilaka offers the world a subversively funny, spot-on portrait of one tiny nation addressing its tragedy with humor, kindness and quiet, unwavering courage. Seattle Times

Shehan Karunatilaka's big-hearted, madcap novel reverberates with echoes ofA Fan's NotesandNetherland. Barnes and Noble Review

Karunatilaka's rambunctious debut brims with inventive ideas and comic set-pieces. . . . Cricket aficionados will loveThe Legend of Pradeep Mathew, but Karunatilaka has stuffed his novel so full of life--albeit a crazily inflated version of it--for it to charm and dazzle the rest of us in equal measure. Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

Endearing . . . disguised as a sports story yet it's really about a man's love and disgust for his country. Houston Chronicle