Translator Translated — Anita Desai

First published in the “striking” collection, The Art of Disappearance, a novella about the the relationship between a writer and her translator (New York Times).

Distraught by her own lack of accomplishment -- especially in comparison to that of a childhood rival who has become a famous and successful publisher -- a middle-aged woman has the opportunity of a lifetime: to translate the work of an unknown literary star and, in the process, impress the woman she most admires.

Praise for The Art of Disappearance:

“Reminiscent of writers like Jhumpa Lahiri and W.G. Sebald, wherein strange evolutions of solitary lives are the rule, and readers are held by the stately, hypnotic dignity of the voice that tells them.” -- San Francisco Chronicle

“[A] brilliant miniature exposé of contemporary culture.” -- The Guardian 

“Lingers in the memory the same way these landscapes and people of India prove impossible to forget.” -- Boston Globe