The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

By: Shehan Karunatilaka

Narrated by: Shivantha Wijesinha

An Instant National Bestseller

Winner of the 2022 Booker Prize, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is a searing satire set amid the mayhem of the Sri Lankan civil war.

Colombo, 1990. Maali Almeida—war photographer, gambler, and closet queen—has woken up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. His dismembered body is sinking in the serene Beira Lake and he has no idea who killed him. In a country where scores are settled by death squads, suicide bombers, and hired goons, the list of suspects is depressingly long, as the ghouls and ghosts with grudges who cluster round can attest. But even in the afterlife, time is running out for Maali. He has seven moons to contact the man and woman he loves most and lead them to the photos that will rock Sri Lanka.

Ten years after his prize-winning novel Chinaman established him as one of Sri Lanka's foremost authors, Shehan Karunatilaka is back with a "thrilling satire" (Economist) and rip-roaring state-of-the-nation epic that offers equal parts mordant wit and disturbing, profound truths.

©2022 Shehan Karunatilaka (P)2022 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Interesting and very creative

This is a fascinating book and filled with horror and beauty. However, it does take patience and a lot of concentration to listen to. I was somewhat annoyed with the first couple of hours of listening because it was confusing before the plot started to truly unfold. I think if people hang in there, they will eventually get totally sucked into the story. The history lessons scattered throughout are a window to such enlightening facts about this amazing place.

A+

Beautiful and strange and haunting and engrossing. Definitely recommend both the book and the narration.

A very different presentation

I really liked this book. It brings forward the plague of violence some cultures seem to have . I think if you lived in that part of the world for any amount of time it would be easier to understand some of the absurdities this story presents. The narrator was fabulous

What a terrific book

Full of surprises. A history of the characters, fictional, intertwined with a late 20th century of Sri Lanka, the violence in Sri Lanka. Well deserving of the Booker Prize.

Great read

A skillful narrator who plays myriad characters well. Terrific, riveting story that mixes macabre with mania and cruelty with comedy.

Fabulous Flight through Our Plight !

With Depth, Humor and Fabulous metaphors the author challenges us to think through the judgements and values we hold as we pass through this life.

A Personal Favorite

What an absolute joy! An incredible world building experience, a hero so compelling. It's fantastic and fantastical. A huge surprise!

a joy to read

Great story telling.
i Was greatly surprised how much I enjoyed it.
it was great having a queer center to be Character.

Spellbinding

Worth reading. Excellent narrator. The author uses the most beautiful language to describe the ugliest situations and it works well. Karunatilaka builds a fascinate afterlife within a mystery of how the title character got there. A stellar work.

Narrator brings text to life!

I listened with the book in front of me and was so glad I did. The novel is intricate with a panoply of characters. The narrators story telling gives coherence and context to the various story lines and animates the vividly portrayed characters. If I had tried to read on my own I would have stayed lost.