One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of this will Matter

“A debut collection of essays about growing up the daughter of Indian immigrants in Canada, “a land of ice and casual racism,” addressing sexism, cultural stereotypes and the universal miseries of life by the irreverent, hilarious and incomparable rising star and cultural observer, Scaachi Koul. In suburban Calgary, at a young and impressionable age, Scaachi Koul learned what made her miserable. Not just uncomfortable, not just mild irritants, not just the long commute you have in the morning: things that make you doubt your humanity. And it turns out, everything did. In The Pursuit of Misery, Scaachi shares her observations, fears and experiences as a woman of colour growing up in Canada. These are stories ranging from shaving her knuckles in grade school, to a shopping trip gone horribly awry, to internet garbage, to parsing the trajectory of fears and anxieties that pressed upon her immigrated parents and bled down a generation. Stories of returning to India where her parents grew up, and ultimately about trying to find her place in the world. With a sharp eye and biting wit, Scaachi explores the absurdity of a life and culture steeped in misery. And through these intimate, wise and laugh-out-loud funny dispatches, a portrait of a bright new literary voice emerges.”–