{"product_id":"serious-men-9780393338591","title":"Serious Men","description":"\u003cp\u003eAyyan Mani will not be constrained by Indian traditions. Despite working at the Institute of Theory and Research in Mumbai as the lowly personal assistant to a brilliant but insufferable astronomer, he dreams of more for himself and his family.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEver wily and ambitious, Ayyan weaves two plots: the first to cheer up his weary, soap-opera-addicted wife by creating outrageous fictions around their ten-year-old son; the other to sabotage the married director by using his boss's seeming romance with the institute's first female--and very attractive--researcher. Meanwhile, as the institute's Brahmins wage a vicious war over theories about alien life, Ayyan sees his deceptions intertwining and setting in motion a series of extraordinary events he cannot stop. Unfailingly funny and irreverent, \u003cem\u003eSerious Men\u003c\/em\u003e is at once a hilarious portrayal of runaway egos and ambitions and a moving portrait of love and its strange workings.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e One of 2010's \"First Novels to Savor.\" --\u003cem\u003eSunday Telegraph\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJoseph, Manu:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eManu Joseph\u003c\/strong\u003e, who lives in New Delhi, is a columnist for the \u003ci\u003eInternational Herald Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e. His first novel, \u003ci\u003eSerious Men\u003c\/i\u003e, won the PEN\/Open Book Award and was shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize.","brand":"W. W. Norton \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50460180939026,"sku":"9780393338591","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_87afc3fa-d676-4b94-a34c-5cacaadf85eb.jpg?v=1730032832","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/serious-men-9780393338591","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}