Introducing this collection of stories, R. K. Narayan describes how in India "the writer has only to look out of the window to pick up a character and thereby a story."
Malgudi Days, featuring short fiction written over almost forty years, is the marvellous result. Here Narayan portrays an astrologer, a snake charmer, a postman, a vendor of pies and chappatis-all kinds of people, drawn in full color and endearing domestic detail. And under his magician's touch the whole imaginary city of Malgudi springs to life, revealing the essence of India and of human experience.