Akhil Sharma’s A Life of Adventure and Delight is a collection of brilliant short stories, all of which have been published in The New Yorker – an incredible accomplishment.

Sharma’s skill lies in his acute characterisation. Not only is he able to inhabit flawed characters in a compassionate way, but the characters become more real because they are only too aware of their faults. Sharma executes this using pathos and humour. In the story ‘The Well’, the narrator muses: ‘I went to Rutgers for college. I was fat. I didn’t know much about women. My father once told me, “Pavan, don’t be proud. Marry someone taller than you.”’Half the stories occur in Delhi, where the characters are trying to live good lives while managing traditional expectations. In ‘If You Sing Like That for Me’, a woman watches her new husband and brother-in-law move furniture into their tiny rooftop flat. The furniture is her dowry, and she watches, frozen, as her new life unfolds. She is filled with fear about what will occur that night.

The stories set in America focus on the immigrant experience, and a desperation to understand local social and sexual mores. In ‘Cosmopolitan’, Gopal, an older man, tries to woo his neighbour ‘Mrs Shaw’ by reading American magazines at the local library to decipher women’s romantic and sexual desires. Many of Sharma’s other protagonists are male Indian students who are confused by the overt sexuality of fellow students. They may take part in student excesses of drinking or socialising, but are only too aware of parental and cultural expectations.

‘Surrounded by Sleep’ is a touching story of two brothers, and the aftermath of one brother’s near drowning and resulting disability. This story expanded to become Sharma’s award-winning 2014 novel, Family Life. Sharma has received much recognition overseas, particularly in the US, where he lives and teaches creative writing. I can only hope that this wonderful book furthers his reputation in Australia.

Annie Condon works as a bookseller at Readings Hawthorn.