Synopses & Reviews
"I can do nothing more for you. You are now in Hanuman's hands." These are the words author Cheeni Rao hears his Indian immigrant mother sob as he stands locked outside his family home. A brilliant, promising young man who is the product of a devout Hindu family from a long line of Brahmin priests, Rao has been reduced to the life of a homeless drug addict and petty criminal on the back streets of Chicago's Southside.
The freedoms and temptations of life on an elite American college campus send Rao spiraling down into a hedonistic nightmare of drugs, sex, and crime. Desperate and alone, he is visited by Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god his mother evoked, and comes to realize that this unlikely guide may be his last resort. On his long journey to recovery, Rao is guided by visions of this clever, divine monkey, best known from the Indian epic poem, the Ramayana.
In Hanuman's Hands is a gritty, hauntingly beautiful memoir. Bringing India whole-heartedly into America, Rao weaves his own story of Western culture clash with mythic tales of his Hindu ancestors who served in the ancestral temples of Kali. With Hanuman as his loyal companion, the author finds his way back to recovery at a halfway house run by a mug named Tats and shared by an unforgettable gang of streetwise characters. In Hanuman's Hands is a striking debut from a new literary voice.
Review
I enjoyed this tremendously. This is an important, incredible story. John Murray, author of A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies
Review
I could go on all day about how impressed I am with this. I gave myself over as a reader and I was richly rewarded. Lan Samantha Chang, author of Hunger: A Novella and Stories
Review
Even readers who have become jaded to the generic conventions of the addiction memoir...will find themselves engrossed in Rao's spiritual journey, from the descent into a very personal hell to the slow climb back. Wherever his writing goes from here, this powerful debut is a signal to pay attention. Publisher's Weekly (starred review)
Review
Rich material in this haunting debut. Library Journal
Review
Here is a fine mind at work . . . It is a story about the pleasures and problems of love and loyalty, and making one's way in the world to and through difficult crossroads and milestones. In Hanuman's Hands is a fine piece of work. Larry Heinemann, National Book Award winner for Paco's Story
Review
There is so much here that I admire. This is the book I want to read. Lewis Robinson, author of Officer Friendly and Other Stories
Review
A drug-related memoir that contains any original material whatsoever will stand out, all the more so if eloquent, socially insightful, and laced with self-deprecating humor. Such is the case with In Hanuman's Hands, by Chicago native Cheeni Rao. Chicago Sun-Times
Review
Writer tells of his spiral into drug addiction and how his ‘visions of the Hindu monkey god Hanuman helped him find the path to a cure. USA Today (Recommended Summer Books Issue)
Synopsis
I can do nothing more for you. You are now in Hanuman's hands. These are the words author Cheeni Rao hears his Indian immigrant mother sob as he stands locked outside his family home. A brilliant, promising young man who is the product of a devout Hindu family from a long line of Brahmin priests, Rao has been reduced to the life of a homeless drug addict and petty criminal on the back streets of Chicago's Southside.
The freedoms and temptations of life on an elite American college campus send Rao spiraling down into a hedonistic nightmare of drugs, sex, and crime. Desperate and alone, he is visited by Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god his mother evoked, and comes to realize that this unlikely guide may be his last resort. On his long journey to recovery, Rao is guided by visions of this clever, divine monkey, best known from the Indian epic poem, the Ramayana.
In Hanuman's Hands is a gritty, hauntingly beautiful memoir. Bringing India whole-heartedly into America, Rao weaves his own story of Western culture clash with mythic tales of his Hindu ancestors who served in the ancestral temples of Kali. With Hanuman as his loyal companion, the author finds his way back to recovery at a halfway house run by a mug named Tats and shared by an unforgettable gang of streetwise characters. In Hanuman's Hands is a striking debut from a new literary voice.
Synopsis
A talented new literary voice weaves his own story of encountering Western culture--and its myriad temptations--with mythic stories of his Hindu ancestors, in this hauntingly beautiful memoir.
About the Author
Cheeni Rao is a graduate of the University of Chicago as well as the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He is a winner of the Nick Adams Award for fiction and the Olga and Paul Menn Foundation Prize for fiction, and has had many of his stories published in nationally distributed journals. His three plays, Phone, Broken Circle, and Islands, were produced by The Asian Theatre Project, and he has had a screenplay optioned by a major Hollywood studio. He is the founder and owner of The Iowa Book Doctors, an editing firm that edits and ghostwrites manuscripts for publication and conducts online one-on-one instruction on the craft of writing.