''The Association of Small Bombs'' is a 2016 novel by Indian-American author and novelist

Karan Mahajan Karan Mahajan (born April 24, 1984) is an Indian-American novelist, essayist, and critic. His second novel, ''The Association of Small Bombs,'' was a finalist for the 2016 National Book Award for Fiction. He has contributed writing to '' The Bel ...

. The novel is Mahajan's second, after 2012's ''Family Planning'', and was first published in 2016 by

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim and then acquire ...

. The novel was named a finalist for the 2016

National Book Award for Fiction The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards, which recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987 the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, but ...

. It was met with positive reviews. The novel opens with a bombing in a

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

marketplace in 1996 and explores the resultant trauma caused by the attack, examining it from the perspective of both the victims, their families, and the perpetrators.

Plot

The novel opens with the detonation of a bomb by a Kashmiri man, Shockie. The bomb kills thirteen and injures a further thirty, and the remainder of the novel alternates between the perspective of Shockie, those who were injured, and those who lost family in the explosion.

References

2016 American novels Viking Press books {{2010s-novel-stub