English, August: An Indian Story
Upamanyu Chatterjee
 The posting starts off as a tremendous culture shock for Agastya, a city boy. However, it eventually becomes one long philosophical journey and a process of self discovery. Written by a civil servant, the novel manages to capture the essence of an entire generation of Indians, whose urban realities jar in sharp contrast to that of rural India. Agastya Sen's sense of dislocation is only compounded by his extreme lack of interest in the bizarre ways of government and administration. While his mind is dominated by marijuana, masturbation and the meditations of Marcus Aurelius, images from his previous urban life. His work in Madna would ideally require him to be a devoted servant of the people.