The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo

"A starvation diary about desire, with as much sexual tension as a bodicebuster? Orner hits the right notes and no others."—Mark Schone, New York Times Book Revew

"Peter Orner's debut reads like a perfectly formed masterpiece of such idiosyncratic
voice and story that I can't imagine my shelves now without it."—Alexandra Fuller, author of

"Mavala Shikongo is one of the most deftly rendered and unforgettable characters in recent fiction. The men of Goas fall in love with her and the reader is helpless, too--she is a revolution unto herself. Orner's book is always elegant and always true, and its wistful and even hallucinatory mood haunts the mind for months after finishing it."—Dave Eggers

"Lyrical, comical, full-blown . . . A gifted short-story writer gives us his first booklength work of fiction, and does so with flair and panache."—Alan Cheuse, Chicago Tribune