A Room in Bombay

“In an effort to make the distance between himself and his parents more bearable, Suri writes letters – more than 2,700 of them, all addressed to Prem. They show the richness, honesty and humor of his life. You will remember A ROOM IN BOMBAY long after you put it down as you consider your own understanding of home.” – Jane T. Krebs - Bookreporter
“Fluid and compelling, this heartfelt narrative—cleverly tied to the humble room at the center of his life, which takes on mythic proportions—is ultimately about the ways we fail the people we love, the imperfect narratives that real life has to offer, and how to reconcile with this reality. Suri pulls off a magic trick here: even though we know where this must all be going, we still can’t help turning the pages to see what happens next.” – Summer Brennan - A Writer’s Notebook
“Drawing from thousands of letters sent over three decades, Suri’s memoir revisits the single room in a crumbling, crowded apartment in Bombay (now Mumbai) that his family shared. Part prison, part haven, the room is imbued with deeper meaning as Suri wrestles with his enduring love for his mother.” – New York Times
“With steadiness of gaze, keen perception, and an uncanny exactitude of language, Manil Suri has written a beautiful memoir that is both compassionate and courageous. A Room in Bombay is a wonderful book.” – Rabih Alameddine, author of The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)
“In A Room in Bombay, acclaimed novelist Manil Suri turns inward, penning a memoir with piercing intimacy and psychological depth… . Wryly observed and heartbreakingly honest, this is a story about familial duty, unconditional love, and the rebellion of selfhood—and all the impossible choices that come with growing up and away.” – Jessica Bruder, author of Nomadland
“Rooms in Bombay are not big in size, but huge in heart. Manil Suri’s memoir will make you want to hug your mother. Written in clean, direct prose and without sentimentality, it explores all the dimensions of the complicated bond between parent and child—while also being laugh out loud funny. If you were born of a mother, read this book.” – Suketu Mehta, author of Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found
“A deeply affecting memoir, in which the ‘room,’ like a prison of the mind, acquires the force of metaphor—a symbol of all that we must escape in order to be more truly ourselves, and all that we never quite can.” – Aatish Taseer
“Drawing on the 2,711 letters that his mother cherished, Suri has created a probing memoir about his family, especially the deep bond between him and his mother; his homosexuality; and the uncanny hold the apartment exerted on them all… . an empathetic portrait of his parents’ entrapment, and a candid account of his struggle to be responsible to them, and to himself.” – Kirkus
“In the Hindu epic, The Ramayan, Shravan exemplifies a devoted son, caring for his aging blind parents. That renowned novelist Suri mentions Shravan’s story in his moving memoir reflects the guilt he struggles with as he immigrated to the U.S… . Suri emerges as a Shravan for our times, demonstrating extraordinary patience and service to his parents under severely trying circumstances.” – Poornima Apte - Booklist
“Suri expertly parallels the apartment’s combination of claustrophobia and coziness with his conflicted feelings about his aging parents … His portrait of [his mother] is clear-eyed and prismatic, highlighting both her sweetness and her intensity. Readers will find this a moving consideration of the ties that bind.” – Publishers Weekly

Manil Suri is the internationally acclaimed author of The Death of Vishnu and other books. His work has been translated into twenty-seven languages and received several honors, including winning the Barnes & Noble Discover Prize, and being longlisted for the Booker Prize. He is a distinguished professor of mathematics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and lives with his husband in Silver Spring, Maryland.

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