Posted on July 19, 2022 at 10:03 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
Akhil Sharma's first novel was met with critical acclaim when it came out twenty-two years ago.
An Obedient Father won the PEN/Hemingway Award and was excerpted in The New Yorker, and the author received a Whiting Award as well.
But in spite of all that (and perhaps partly because its commercial success was significantly less), Sharma wasn't especially proud of the work itself.
And so he rewrote and republished it.
Sharma shares what bothered him about An Obedient Father and how he came to decide it should be dramatically revised with the New York Times Magazine, which also notes how rare his actions are.
(We will note that the novel's plot includes sexual assault, and the article, of necessity, references that.)
The new version of An Obedient Father is out now in paperback.
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Categories: Today in Books