Fire Girl: Essays on India, America, and the In-Between

by Sayantani Dasgupta

In "Fire Girl," her debut collection of essays, Sayantani Dasgupta examines her personal story against the history, religion, popular culture and mythology of South Asia and her current home in the American West.

Praise for "Fire Girl"

These are exquisite essays, filled with savory language spiced just right. Sayantani Dasgupta's generous intelligence and lively curiosity bring alive whole worlds-those of ancient stories and those of daily living, artfully considered. Cultures, languages, religions, landscapes, legacies-this is a writer who contains multitudes. -Peggy Shumaker, Author of " Just Breathe Normally"

Sayantani Dasgupta writes with such keen intelligence and vivid clarity that we can't help be taken in. Lyrical, compassionate, and compelling, these beautiful essays transport us to another world. In Dasgupta's able hands, it is a world we come to recognize as our own. -Kim Barnes, Author of "In the Kingdom of Men"

Sayantani Dasgupta brings together past and present as she considers childhood, violence, safety, family, monsters, goddesses, and the concept of home. These beautiful essays move between India and America, between selves and versions of selves, as Sayantani considers what is real and what is story or indeed, how the two are ever different. The range of landscapes and subjects is as breathtaking as the writing, showing us a powerful mind at work.-Bich Minh Nguyen, Author of "Stealing Buddha's Dinner"

The oscillations in the essays are sometimes gentle vibrations, other times beating drums, encompassing the tension between the home and the world, the past and the present, the brain and the heart. The stories constantly go away and come back and we undulate with them, rippling between delight, sorrow, rage, wonder. -Aurvi Sharma, Winner of the "2015 Gulf Coast Prize in Nonfiction"

Genres: Memoir, Essays, Nonfiction

260 pages, Paperback

Published June 16, 2016

About the author

An alumna of St. Stephen’s College and JNU, Sayantani Dasgupta received her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Idaho. She is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She is the author of Women Who Misbehave (Penguin Random House); Fire Girl: Essays on India, America, & the In-Between—a Finalist for the Foreword Indies Awards for Creative Nonfiction—and the chapbook The House of Nails: Memories of a New Delhi Childhood. Her writing has appeared in over 50 literary journals and magazines, including, The Hindu, The Rumpus, Scroll, Economic & Political Weekly, IIC Quarterly, Chicago Quarterly Review, and others. She has been awarded a Centrum Foundation Fellowship, and a Pushcart Prize Special Mention. Besides the US, she has taught creative writing in India, Italy, and Mexico. Sayantani is also the winner of Season 3 of Write India, adjudged by the novelist Kavita Kane, and organized by the books division of The Times of India.

Reviews

[Kaushal Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Please visit http://www.guptakaushal.in/2016/07/bo... to read the complete review of the book.

Sayantani's book is a collection of her essays written over a period of time and have appeared in various publications. She shares stories or essays, that are her take on various aspects of human life under various circumstances at various places and numerous influences.

The book is a collection of 15 essays by Sayantani Dasgupta with titles as interesting as the book itself, in totality. The abstract cover photo is a strong reason in itself to pickup the book.

The beauty of these essays is the way they access readers thoughts and make a mark the intellect and not a scar, create unrest to know more, stick to essay and till you conclude with amusement of reading something very universal in nature, yet unspoken of. The questions, the reasoning, the rationalization and the debates are compelling without sounding like a complain, the what-if's or the world are sidelined and what-is are presented.

My personal favorites are Reptilian Brain, On Seeking Answers, Goddesses, Fire Girl, The Butcher Shop of New Delhi. The title essay, Fire Girl, is about Draupadi from the Indian Epic Mahabharata and the one's experiences of authoritative fearlessness by the other gender during the growing up years.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading short stories irrespective of any genre.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the honor and distinct pleasure of participating in two classes taught by Sayantani Dasgupta last summer at the Centrum Port Townsend Writers Conference, and her book, "Fire Girl," is an imaginative and significant set of essays on the intersection between cultures, between childhood and adulthood, between writing and living one's life.

Ms. Dasgupta interleaves personal story with scientific and cultural insights, and the resulting blend is remarkable. I especially enjoyed the first essay in the collection, "Reptilian Brain." Original, fresh voice; this piece took me into a completely different world. I highly recommend this book!

[Emily Naylor-Awada · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book on Amazon and devoured it in one weekend. Dasgupta's story is both compelling and relatable. This book evoked a range of emotions within me. I laughed a loud and also cried. Read this book if you long to take a journey to India and learn about life in rural America. Sayantani Dasgupta makes a wonderful tour guide.

[Aruni Kashyap · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful collection of essays about being a new immigrant in a predominantly white, midwestern town. Dasgupta writes with great empathy and warmth for the people she encounters. With mild humour, a hint of satire, and riveting narration, she holds your attention so well that you don’t know how you shuttle between isolated, snow-clad Idaho and noisy, dusty, crowded Delhi; from stories of her childhood in Delhi to stories about her family’s roots in Bangladesh; from the creative writing classes as a student in the American university to being a teacher in the same city. This is an essay collection that raises questions about society and politics and race and class and gender with ease, with numerous unforgettable anecdotes.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all the wonderful things about this collection of essays -- the sensory detail, the suspenseful pacing, the chance to glimpse what it's like to straddle two cultures, the braided structure of each piece -- what I love best is how this author reveals the intersection between reflection and revelation. Whether examining her own consciousness, or a whole culture's consciousness, Dasgupta zeroes in on how those a-ha moments happen. And she does it amazingly fresh descriptions, like this one from "Reptilian Brain": "Our eyes locked -- mine out of terror and the snake's out of curiosity, our mouths mere kissing distance away."

[Amiya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sayantani Dasgupta's writing is powerful, insightful, compelling, yet lyrical. She writes, in fluid prose, of home and belongingness, identity and gender, religions and cultures, first impressions and last memories. Some incidents that she wrote about knocked the wind out of me and left me breathless, angry, pained, moved. And then some other bits of the book left me smiling and chuckling to myself. My favourite essays were the ones on her grandparents, her students and, of course, the brilliantly crafted essay that gives this collection its name: Fire Girl. Most of all, I liked how the writing was beautiful, yet so effortless and unpretentious. The world needs more of such writers!

[Shana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book you will hurt to leave to go about your mundane daily routine. You will want time to stop and allow you the 5 straight hours to devour it.
It is a joy ride for your senses - it will take you through a multitude of emotions, cultures, countries, cities, families, foods and eras! It's a roller coaster that starts deceptively slow only to rock you out of your mind as you try to take everything in while you are on it! I don't have words to describe the effective writing style that traveled back and forth among the multitudes effortlessly!

[Melody Moezzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautifully written collection of essays. I absolutely loved this book! I have a lot more to say, but I'm beginning to realize that this is why I never review books. I always say, I have a lot more to say about this and then just put it off and never write ANYTHING. So this is me trying to quit doing that. Simply put, if you enjoy great writing, then you'll love this book as much as I did. If you're a hybrid of any variety like me, then you'll love it all the more.

[naviya · Rating 3 out of 5]

- i really enjoyed how the writer uses a backdrop of hinduism to talk abt her personal experiences
- this was a really hearty book, and it made me feel and remember many things abt my own life
- i think so often writing abt india/ or what gets published when writing abt india (re: jhumpa lahiri) is just,, exoticization, self-hatred, and underlying white-centrism but this isn't like that
- sometimes i did feel that this was meant for a non-indian-hindu audience but i dont think that pulls away from the impact the book has
- im glad i read this! reading indian/south-asian things always make me yearn for weeks for absolutely no reason
- my fave essays: With Love to Captain Nemo, Goddesses, On Seeking Answers

big big tw// sexual assault

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's my review in The Seattle Review of Books: http://www.seattlereviewofbooks.com/r...

[Nathaniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Totally reasonable! Author has a solid voice and a diverting set of topics to explore. Would recommend to readers looking for something accessible about Indian/American cultural divides and touch points. Not particularly insightful or memorable, but enjoyable while reading it.

[Krystal Galvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meet the author and she is so different in real life. She is witty and funny and super kind. Her essays are amazing.