Roman Stories

JHUMPA LAHIRI, a bilingual writer and translator, is the Millicent C. McIntosh Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing at Barnard College (Columbia University). She received the Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for Interpreter of Maladies, her debut story collection. She is also the author of The Namesake, Unaccustomed Earth, and The Lowland, which was a finalist for both the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Award in fiction. Since 2015, Lahiri has been writing fiction, essays, and poetry in Italian: In Altre Parole (In Other Words), Il Vestito dei libri (The Clothing of Books), Dove mi trovo (self-translated as Whereabouts), Il quaderno di Nerina, and Racconti romani. She has translated three novels by Domenico Starnone and is the editor of The Penguin Classics Book of Italian Short Stories, which was published in Italy as Racconti Italiani. Lahiri received the National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama in 2014, and in 2019 she was named Commendatore of the Italian Republic by President Sergio Mattarella. Her most recent book in English is a collection of essays entitled Translating Myself and Others, published in Spring 2022 by Princeton University Press.

Each narrative contains deftly drawn vignettes of the entwined lives of Italians and foreigners of different classes, colors, ages and creeds. Wall Street Journal

Electric . . .  Elegant . . . The fluid transitions between Lahiri s and Portnowitz s translations elevate Roman Stories from a grouping of individual tales to a deeply moving whole. The New York Times

"A delectable, sun-washed treat . . . the stories have the beating heart of the city itself, a place of magnificent decay and vibrant, varied life." Vogue

Heartrending. . . affecting . . . [Lahiri] powerfully conveys her characters' valiant efforts to navigate geographic and cultural relocations and find their place in the world. NPR

"Dazzling." People

"Masterful . . . Lahiri brilliantly delineates her characters' triumphs and trials." Minneapolis Star Tribune

A dazzling collection of nine stories originally written in Italian and featuring characters who grapple with vast emotional and social chasms that cleave the lives of families, longtime friends, and immigrants . . . Throughout, Lahiri s luminous prose captures a side of Rome often ignored . . . These unembroidered yet potent stories shine. Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A brilliant return to the short story form by an author of protean accomplishments . . . Filled with intelligence and sorrow, these sharply drawn glimpses of Roman lives create an impressively unified effect. Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Stunning . . . A finely calibrated collection about insiders and outsiders, natives and foreigners . . . Rome with its echoing past and mercurial present is a potently evocative setting for Lahiri s exquisitely incisive, richly empathetic, and profoundly resonant stories. Booklist (starred review)