About the Author

Jerry Pinto is a Mumbai-based author and columnist. His published works include a book of poems, Asylum; Helen: The Life and Times of an H-Bomb, which won the National Award for the Best Book on Cinema in 2007; and the novel Em and the Big Hoom, winner of the Hindu Literary Prize 2012 and the Crossword Book Award for Fiction 2013.

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Praise for the Book

• Using all the strength of his enormous talent, his natural empathy, Pinto chases the elusive portrait of a mother who … Read more
• This novel about a boy growing up in Mumbai with a mentally afflicted mother is utterly persuasive … Read more
• “Deeply engrossing, finely-tuned, and told with a moving and luminous clarity, this is a splendid and memorable debut.” – Arundhati Subramaniam in The Hindu… Read more
• “The novel’s success lies in its characterisation of Catholics, suffering women and domineering men.” – Eunice de Souza in Pune Mirror… Read more
• Jerry Pinto’s novel ‘Em and the Big Hoom’, which was awarded the Hindu Literary Prize for 2012, wins the Crossword Book Award for Fiction 2013 Read more
• The Hindu Literary Prize goes to Jerry Pinto Read more
• ‘Deeply engrossing, finely-tuned, and told with a moving and luminous clarity, this is a splendid and memorable debut.’ Read more
• Insanely Good. Read more
• ‘Pinto’s prose quicksilvers its way through time and emotions, slipping in wit and pulling out despair elegantly. The novel is neatly structured, punctuated by little detours that help flesh out the plot and its players, and holds the reader’s attention.’ Read more
• ‘Em and the Big Hoom is a marvellously evocative book about Mumbai—and a searing tale about the havoc that mental illness wreaks on a family.’ Read more
• ‘Em and the Big Hoom is a joyous read that leaves you chuckling and sad, at once.’ Read more
• ‘Pinto’s narrative is both brutal and beautiful.’ Read more
• ‘No one since James Joyce and Arundhati Roy has been better able to capture the bewilderment of a child and his mother in a mad, mad world.’ Read more
• ‘Em and The Big Hoom demands a sensitive reading and offers many interesting aspects for understanding how a single life is shaped by abstract concepts.’ Read more
• [Em and The Big Hoom] glides into the greyness of tragicomedy, resorting as often to mirth as to distress and as often to love as to anger. Read more
• Time-Out – Em and The Big Hoom – Home truth: Jerry Pinto on his new novel Read more
• Mid-Day – Em and The Big Hoom – ‘I wrote 27 drafts for Em and the big Hoom’… Read more
• Times Crest – Em and The Big Hoom – ‘Our interest in the mentally ill is largely voyeuristic’ Read more
• The Times of India – Em and The Big Hoom – Jerry Pinto on Mumbai, madness and more Read more