The Dreamer by Rajeev Balasubramanyam

The Dreamer a Book by Rajeev Balasubramanyam

Shashi: an actor, wealthy, famous, and letting go ? of his career, his marriage, his mind, and now himself. Lisha: creator of Stoneman, her own private fantasy world within a comic book. Fragile and alone, except for her mother. In 1986, in Stonewall, Lancashire, Lisha doesn't know she's about to die. She doesn't know that in the darkness outside, three boys are circling her house with minds full of hate. And she doesn't know that, seventeen years into the future, a drunken actor lies unconscious in a London bedsit, fighting to save her life. A mind-bending portrait of post-traumatic breakdown, and a timely critique of our celebrity and success-based culture, The Dreamer is most of all a love story that unites Shashi and Lisha not only across time and space, but across death itself. About The Author: Rajeev Balasubramanyam was born in Lancashire in 1974. He is a graduate of both Oxford and Cambridge universities, and has a Ph.D in contemporary British literature. He currently lives in Hong Kong. Rajeev's first novel, In Beautiful Disguises, was the winner of a Betty Trask Prize in 1999 and was longlisted for the Guardian First Fiction Prize 2000.

About Author

At 22, not many are thinking about writing a book. But Rajeev Balasubramanyam not only published his first novel, he also won a Betty Trask for it."I started writing when I was quite young," says Rajeev. "It was my escape from reality while I was growing up." Born and raised in the UK, Rajeev has published two novels so far, In Beautiful Disguises and The Dreamer, and several short stories. He has also won Clarissa Luard Fiction Award and an Arts Council Writers' Award.The writer is now working on a collection of short stories that delves into the change in attitudes towards South Asians after 9/11 and the 7 July bombings in England, and around the world. "I once sat down on a bench and the person next to me moved two places," explains Rajeev. "The environment became very hostile after that." Both of his books have ties to his Indian roots, but Rajeev says his future work need not be limited to what is usually expected from an Indian writer.Rajeev will be talking to Gopal Siwakoti Chintan of the TU Centre for Human Rights at Tribhuvan University, as part of the Quixote Cove's Tavern Tales series this Friday. The two will talk about his book The Dreamer and about racism in the UK. He will also read from his short story titled, The Day George Bush (Sr.) Came to Use the Bathroom..