Interpreter of Maladies

Interpreter of Maladies is a 1999 short story collection by Jhumpa Lahiri, who is an American of Indian (specifically Bengali) heritage. Lahiri’s publishing debut, the collection was well-received and garnered many awards, including the 2000 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction and the PEN/Hemingway Prize. Its nine stories are works of literary realism that consider the immigrant experience in the United States and contemporary Indian life. They have been held up as a model for high cultural pluralism, a subgenre of literary realism that focuses on identity, particularly regarding race, culture, and nationality. Threaded throughout these stories are shared themes like The Difficulty of Empathy for the Other, The Immigrant Experience as Alienation, and Love Takes Deliberate Effort.

Plot Summary

The stories in Interpreter of Maladies are not linked by narrative but by purpose: Each story explores the immigrant experience and how it changes or alienates people from their heritage. Six of the nine stories focus on first- or second-generation Indian immigrants living in the United States, and the narrative conflicts are often driven by their difference or difficulty adjusting to life in the US.