The Book of Chocolate Saints by Jeet Thayil [Hardcover]

In The Book of Chocolate Saints, Jeet Thayil brings to life the unforgettable Newton Francis Xavier, a renowned Indian painter and chaotic soul. At sixty-six, Xavier—a poet blocked by his inner demons, a philosopher, a reformed but precarious alcoholic, and an irreverent lover—prepares to return to India from New York for his final art show. Accompanied by his partner and muse, Goody, he journeys through a world brimming with colorful personalities and ghosts from the past. Xavier's life, a whirlwind of love, art, and scandal, unfolds through encounters with poets, artists, journalists, and misfits who each offer fragments of insight into art, existence, and the human condition. Told in a blend of voices and prose styles, Thayil’s novel is both raw and richly textured, capturing the ferocity and beauty of art and the tortured lives of those who create it.