The Painter of Signs (Penguin Classics)
R. K. Narayan (1906–2001), born and educated in India, was the author of fourteen novels, numerous short stories and essays, a memoir, and three retold myths. His work, championed by Graham Greene, who became a close friend, was often compared to that of Dickens, Chekhov, Faulkner, and Flannery O'Connor, among others. October 10, 2006, is the centennial of Narayan's birth.Monica Ali, one ofGranta's "Best of Young British Novelists," is the author ofBrick Lane, finalist for the Man Booker Prize.