Yoga Hotel: Stories

By Maura Moynihan

In the 1970s, Maura Moynihan moved to New Delhi with her mother and father, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who at the time was U.S. ambassador to India. She wasfascinated by the country's contradictions: ancient religions amid urban chaos, the staggering disparity between rich and poor, and Indian familial tradition and the lure of Western novelty.

From three decades of deeply sympathetic observation came the inspiration for these stories, in which the characters' beliefs are challenged as they interact with those outside their culture. British and American expatriates mingle with Indian friends, colleagues, and servants, and the stories follow the change, or failure to change, that results. Hari, a young Indian servant, hopes for his amiable British boss's help in escaping a prearranged wedding. An American embassy worker named Melanie becomes disillusioned when her married lover uses her to get a visa. At a Himalayan retreat, a wealthy group gathers to seek spiritual enlightenment, but their altruism is tested when they are asked to buy dowries for a poor Indian family.

Through witty dialogue and engaging scenes, Moynihan examines how both easterners and westerners struggle for dignity. Replete with humor and poignancy, Yoga Hotel is a stunning literary debut from a writer who understands the complexity and universality of human hopes, fears, and desires.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Apr 21, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061913365

Maura Moynihan

Maura Moynihan has worked for many years as a refugee consultant in India and Nepal, inspired in part by her childhood residence in Asia as the daughter of a U.S. ambassador. Andy Warhol launched her musical career and placed her on the coveted cover of Interview magazine. Her first collection of fiction, Yoga Hotel, was a Washington Post bestseller. This is her first novel. She lives in New York City.

Reviews for Yoga Hotel

[asdf · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

personally this book is fascinating with description of birds making love and september wind was blowing in their feathers till October more than 4 eggs were made, generally speaking this book shows the highlights of a Obama speeches for the past weekend

[bookczuk · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I picked this book up strictly because of the back cover (not pictured, but it's so colorfully Indian and I really liked it.) Moynihan's stories portray a vastly different India from the one I know, which in itself is a vastly different one than the one which exists today, since I was last there in 1994. I really liked one of the stories, moderately liked one, and merely tolerated the rest -- the writing itself was decent, but I'm not a short story fan, and as I said, I was visiting a place that was so different from what I recall that I was uncomfortable. Oh well.

[heina_54 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

With all the excellent Indian and Indian-American fiction out there, this ranks rather low on the scale. The stories had an unfinished feel to them, and the several of the characters were much too flat to be realistic.

[heinous6eli · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

With all the excellent Indian and Indian-American fiction out there, this ranks rather low on the scale. The stories had an unfinished feel to them, and the several of the characters were much too flat to be realistic.