Bibliograph

In other words, Jhumpa Lahiri ; translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein

Type

Label

In other words, Jhumpa Lahiri ; translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein

Language

eng

resource.biographical

contains biographical information

Index

no index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

In other words

Responsibility statement

Jhumpa Lahiri ; translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein

Summary

In Other Words is a revelation. It is at heart a love story--of a long and sometimes difficult courtship, and a passion that verges on obsession: that of a writer for another language. For Jhumpa Lahiri, that love was for Italian, which first captivated and capsized her during a trip to Florence after college. Although Lahiri studied Italian for many years afterward, true mastery always eluded her. Seeking full immersion, she decides to move to Rome with her family, for "a trial by fire, a sort of baptism" into a new language and world. There, she begins to read, and to write--initially in her journal--solely in Italian. In Other Words, an autobiographical work written in Italian, investigates the process of learning to express oneself in another language, and describes the journey of a writer seeking a new voice. Presented in a dual-language format, this is a wholly original book about exile, linguistic and otherwise, written with an intensity and clarity not seen since Vladimir Nabokov: a startling act of self-reflection and a provocative exploration of belonging and reinvention.

Contributor