{"product_id":"beggars-bedlam-9781803093789","title":"Beggar's Bedlam","description":"\u003cb\u003eA hilarious and absurdist take on the political landscape of West Bengal, India.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eBeggar's Bedlam\u003c\/i\u003e is a surreal novel that unleashes the chaos of the carnival on the familiar. Part literary descendent of Bulgakov's \u003ci\u003eThe Master and Margarita\u003c\/i\u003e and part a reconstruction of lost Bengali history, Nabarun Bhattacharya's masterpiece is a jubilant, fizzing wire of subaltern anarchy and insurrection. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Marshall Bhodi Sarkar and his lieutenant Sarkhel surreptitiously dig on the banks of the Ganges River looking for crude oil reserves. Instead, they unearth curved daggers, rusty broadswords, and a Portuguese cannon. Bhodi is an occasional military man and the lead sorcerer of the secret black-magic sect named Choktar. He joins forces with the flying Flaperoos--men with a predilection for alcohol and petty vandalism--to declare outright war against the Marxist-Leninist West Bengal government. In a bloodless revolution that is fascinating in its utter implausibility, a motley crew of yet more implausible characters come together in a magic-realist fictional remapping of Calcutta.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNabarun Bhattacharya\u003c\/b\u003e (1948-2014) was a prominent Bengali writer who enjoyed cult following in his lifetime and beyond. A journalist from 1973 to 1991 at a foreign news agency, he gave up that career to become a full-time writer. Novelist and short-story writer, he was also a prolific poet. \u003cb\u003eRijula Das\u003c\/b\u003e is a novelist and translator. Her work has been translated into French, Russian and German.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Seagull Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50894671249682,"sku":"9781803093789","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_2f279add-6229-45dd-97a2-2070d30606f7.jpg?v=1738257933","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/beggars-bedlam-9781803093789","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}