SOURCE: "He's Doing Quite Well. Then the Drunk Monkeys Arrive," in The Observer (London), No. 10781, May 31, 1998, p. 16.

[In the following review, Patterson applauds Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, calling it both an "impressive debut" and an "amazingly assured debut."]

Sampath Chawla, the young man at the heart of Kieran Desai's impressive debut, Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard, wins the prize for the most eccentric form of protest. It has taken his father a year to find his disappointing son a job at the back desk in the Shakhot post office. 'If it wasn't for me,' he remarks bitterly, 'Sampath would be silting in a special museum for people who are a cross between potatoes and human beings.' At the boss's daughter's wedding, Sampath reveals a self-destructive streak worthy of George Michael. Decked in rich brocades and 'chandelierstyle drops in his nose', which he has discovered while...