"Like a kiss or caress in a Hindi movie, a husband's name is something intimate and therefore unspoken, cleverly patched over." Chapter 1, p. 2

"In November, Gogol develops a mild ear infection. When Ashima and Ashoke see their son's pet name typed on the label of a prescription for antibiotics, when they see it on top of his immunization record, it doesn't look right; pet names are not meant to be made public this way." Chapter 2, p. 36

"Mrs. Jones lives a life that Ashoke's mother would consider humiliating: eating alone, driving herself to work on snow and sleet, seeing her children and grandchildren, at most, three or four times a year." Chapter 3, p. 48

"Not only does Gogol Ganguli have a pet name turned good name, but a last name turned first name." Chapter 4, p. 78

"There is only one complication: he doesn't feel like Nikhil. Not yet. The problem is...