The Tusk That Did the Damage
Published on 25. February 2016
Book
Paperback/Softback
240 pages
978-1-78470-058-4 (ISBN)
Description
Selected as a Book of the Year 2016 in the Guardian
Shortlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize
'One of the most compelling and unusual novels I've read this year.... A fascinating story of hunters and observers, old mythical gods and modern politics.' Sarah Hall, Guardian Books of the Year
When a young elephant is brutally orphaned by poachers, it is only a matter of time before he begins terrorising the countryside, earning his malevolent name from the humans he kills and then tenderly buries with leaves.
Manu, the studious son of a rice farmer, loses his cousin to the Gravedigger and is drawn into the alluring world of ivory hunting.
Emma is working on a documentary set in a Kerala wildlife park with her best friend. Her work leads her to witness the porous boundary between conservation and corruption and she finds herself caught up in her own betrayal.
As the novel hurtles toward its tragic climax, these three storylines fuse into a wrenching meditation on love and revenge, fact and myth, duty and sacrifice. In a feat of audacious imagination and arrestingly beautiful prose, The Tusk That Did the Damage tells an original and heartbreaking story about how we treat nature, and each other.
*Tania James's spellbinding new novel Loot is available for pre-order now!*
Shortlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize
'One of the most compelling and unusual novels I've read this year.... A fascinating story of hunters and observers, old mythical gods and modern politics.' Sarah Hall, Guardian Books of the Year
When a young elephant is brutally orphaned by poachers, it is only a matter of time before he begins terrorising the countryside, earning his malevolent name from the humans he kills and then tenderly buries with leaves.
Manu, the studious son of a rice farmer, loses his cousin to the Gravedigger and is drawn into the alluring world of ivory hunting.
Emma is working on a documentary set in a Kerala wildlife park with her best friend. Her work leads her to witness the porous boundary between conservation and corruption and she finds herself caught up in her own betrayal.
As the novel hurtles toward its tragic climax, these three storylines fuse into a wrenching meditation on love and revenge, fact and myth, duty and sacrifice. In a feat of audacious imagination and arrestingly beautiful prose, The Tusk That Did the Damage tells an original and heartbreaking story about how we treat nature, and each other.
*Tania James's spellbinding new novel Loot is available for pre-order now!*
Reviews / Votes
One of the most unusual and affecting books... a compulsively readable, devastating novel. One of the most compelling and unusual novels I've read this year.... A fascinating story of hunters and observers, old mythical gods and modern politics. * Guardian, Book of the Year * One of the most compelling and unusual novels I've read this year.... A fascinating story of hunters and observers, old mythical gods and modern politics. * Guardian, Book of the Year * This gorgeously written novel is unlike anything I've ever read, and unlike anything you've ever read too. * Glamour * Impressive...sharp and unnerving sensibility. James offers a captivating rendering of an animal's point of view. Assured and skillful * New York Times Book Review * Impressive * Guardian * The Tusk That Did the Damage will leave you breathless as you follow three narrators across the wild plains of India. A poacher, a documentary filmmaker, and an elephant called Gravedigger all illuminate the complexities of the country and culture, and you'll be stunned by the author's portrayal of the magnificent, tusked animals central to the character's lives * Time Out New York * Lusciously written... a thoroughly readable novel that refuses to provide a simplistic perspective on the brutality of elephant poaching * Metro * Heart-racingly paced...Narrated in part by a pachyderm, it paints a vivid picture of conservation and corruption..a story that moves...with grace and humour, as light-footed as a poacher * National Geographic Traveller * Ivory trading, poaching, an escaped elephant, a risky love affair, all set in rural South India and "blend[ing] the mythical and the political"-this novel seems to have it all * The Millions *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
170 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78470-058-4 (9781784700584)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Tania James
The Tusk That Did the Damage
E-Book
02/2015
1st Edition
Vintage Digital
€8.99
Available for download
Person
Tania James's debut novel Atlas of Unknowns was a New York Times Editor's Choice and was shortlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian literature. She has also written the short story collection Aerogrammes, and her stories have appeared in the New Yorker, Granta, Freeman's: The Future of New Writing, One Story and A Public Space. The Tusk That Did the Damage was shortlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize. From 2011 to 2012, Tania James was a Fulbright fellow to India living in New Delhi. She now lives in Washington DC.