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Talia Lakshmi Kolluri
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What We Fed to the Manticore Paperback – September 6, 2022

by Talia Lakshmi Kolluri (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 49 ratings
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Longlisted for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection, Aspen Words Literary Prize, and the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Fiction. Finalist for the 2023 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction.

A Ms. Magazine, Bustle, Publishers Weekly, Chicago Review of Books, Debutiful, and ALTA Journal Best Book of September

An Orion Best Book of Fall

In nine stories that span the globe, What We Fed to the Manticore takes readers inside the minds of a full cast of animal narrators to understand the triumphs, heartbreaks, and complexities of the creatures that share our world.

Through nine emotionally vivid stories, all narrated from animal perspectives, Talia Lakshmi Kolluri’s debut collection explores themes of environmentalism, conservation, identity, belonging, loss, and family with resounding heart and deep tenderness. In Kolluri’s pages, a faithful hound mourns the loss of the endangered rhino he swore to protect. Vultures seek meaning as they attend to the antelope that perished in Central Asia. A beloved donkey’s loyalty to a zookeeper in Gaza is put to the ultimate test. And a wounded pigeon in Delhi finds an unlikely friend.

In striking, immersive detail against the backdrop of an ever-changing international landscape, What We Fed to the Manticore speaks to the fears and joys of the creatures we share our world with, and ultimately places the reader under the rich canopy of the tree of life.

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  1. Print length
    200 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Tin House Books
  4. Publication date
    September 6, 2022
  5. Dimensions
    5.6 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1953534414
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1953534415
  8. See all details
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From the Publisher

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A collection of fables for the 21st century."
― BOMB

"Vivid and exciting."
― Debutiful

"Charming."
― Philadelphia Inquirer

"Deeply tender."
― The Rumpus

"Set to take its rightful place among some of the best environmental fiction in recent memory."
― Chicago Review of Books

"Exquisite. . . . exceptional. . . . This remarkable collection leaves an indelible mark."
― Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"Imaginative. . . . Vulnerable and hopeful, this collection is a touching read."
― Book Riot

"Stupendous. . . . breathtaking. . . . remarkable."
― Booklist, Starred Review

"Courageous and new."
― High Country News

"Remarkable."
― Orion

"Lays bare the inextricable human-animal connection."
― Seattle Times

"Touching, original. . . . This one will move you."
― Ms. Magazine

"Vivid."
― OC Register

"Explores themes of loss, friendship, identity, and nature."
― PopSugar

"Fresh observations of the world."
― Poets & Writers

"Unforgettable."
― Amerie's Book Club

"Kolluri’s collection crosses borders to explore the inner lives of creatures."
― ALTA Journal

"A singular new voice. . . . the stories are sparkling, strange, and tender."
― Locus

"Imaginative."
― Bookbrowse

"A must-read for animal lovers."
― Soapberry Review

"With vivid emotion and scenery, the tender and heartfelt voices show the world from different points of view that speak to the interconnectedness of people, animals, and nature."
― She Reads

"Vivid, imaginative, spellbinding. . . . Kolluri's prose reads like a beautiful song as it soars over the savannah and under the sea."
― Shelf Awareness

"Vivid and breathtaking. . . . deals with feelings of heartbreak and tenderness while crafting a profound message about environmentalism."
― Bookstr

"Every single one of these stories is a gem. "
― So Many Damn Books

"Kolluri delivers a dazzling, daring bestiary brimming over with textured, tender lives. A most magnificent debut!"
― Aimee Nezhukumatathil, author of World of Wonders

"What We Fed to the Manticore is a work of incredible imagination and daring, asking us to recognize the inner lives of whales, donkeys and pigeons to be as complex and deep as our own. The stories in this collection are gorgeously written and richly emotionally textured; in Talia Kolluri’s hands, the familiar world we live in comes freshly to life. I looked up from the last page to find that my own world―and my heart―had become bigger."
― Claire Comstock-Gay, author of Madame Clairevoyant’s Guide to the Stars

"If like me, you fell in love with Fiver and Hazel and Charlotte and Wilbur as a child and have been looking ever since for stories that work that same magic―here they are. This spellbinding collection reminds us that every animal story is a human one, and every human story an animal one. These stories work like incantations."
― Ayse Papatya Bucak, author of The Trojan War Museum: and Other Stories

"The voicing of other species is an ancient, vulnerable, and utterly human practice. For millennia, we’ve placed our stories inside non-human animals not only to celebrate these creatures, but to see the ways our own natures bend and twist in a new set of stripes. The fiction in this deft collection proves that what we call ‘humanity’ exists within a menagerie of other beings, but it also showcases the mind of the one human animal regaling us with her singular wit and wonder. How lovely to get to know a storyteller like Talia Lakshmi Kolluri while she winks at us from inside the minds of a tiger, a vulture, a donkey, a whale."
― Elena Passarello, author of Animals Strike Curious Poses

About the Author

Talia Lakshmi Kolluri’s short fiction has appeared in The Minnesota Review, Ecotone, Southern Humanities Review, The Common, and elsewhere. She was born and raised in Northern California and currently lives in California’s beautiful Central Valley with her husband and cat.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tin House Books (September 6, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 200 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1953534414
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1953534415
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.7 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.6 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 49 ratings

About the author

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Talia Lakshmi Kolluri

Talia Lakshmi Kolluri

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
49 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

godzilla
5.0 out of 5 stars Unique and mesmerizing
Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2022
Verified Purchase
The author takes into the worlds, minds, and hearts of each of her stories —all of whom are animals — and illuminates the truth that humans share this earth, sea, and sky with many different ways of dwelling in them than we acknowledge.
One person found this helpful
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Laura R.
4.0 out of 5 stars A Solid Collection
Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2022
I am always on the lookout for stories that teach something about the world and our place in it, stories that shift our perspective while also entertaining. The nine innovative, imaginative short stories in What We Fed the Manticore, each narrated by a different animal, accomplish this in spades.

The stories explore the inner and outer lives of animals and feature different levels of communication and interaction between animals and humans and with different purposes. Some were compassionate and kind, some indifferent, and others self serving. As a whole, the stories serve as cautionary tales that explore the interconnectedness of people, animals, and the environment. The world would be a better place if we acknowledge our connected reality and act in the best interests of all. Talia Lakshmi Kolluri understands this.

As with all story collections, the impact of individual selections will vary depending on the reader. I particularly enjoyed The Good Donkey, The Dog Star is the Brightest Star in the Sky. May God Forever Bless the Rhino Keepers, Let Your Body Meet the Ground, and also the Author's Notes at the end. I hope you will find your own favorites.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Short stories that stay with you
Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2022
Verified Purchase
Stories are told from perspective of the animal who is the subject of each. Very emotional and touching - will make you stop and think.
One person found this helpful
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TNL
5.0 out of 5 stars Stories from news headlines told by animals
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2023
Each of the stories is based on news articles about animals and told from the POV of an animal. They are sorrowful in the main. I loved the ones about a donkey being painted to be a zebra in a zoo in Iraq, a dog who helps with guarding rhinos in Africa, and Bengal tiger in India. The book is stunning, but brace your heart if you read it. A touchstone about our modern lives...
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Piyali Mukherjee
3.0 out of 5 stars Some stories are inspiring, others are too stylistic to make sense
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2023
My most favorite thing about this book also somehow turned out to be the worst feature about it. The anthropomorphizing leans too heavily into making some of the stories about sad, maudlin journeys with very low stakes. The two stories I loved (the ones about the whales and the vultures) were probably the best in the collection because I think they explored a very different modality of cognition than the other stories. That is, the vultures could see themselves and their role in death. The whales could perceive their world through whalesong. Those particular stories felt rich, poetic and promising.

I know that this is the author's debut collection so I hope she does write more and I'd be excited to see if there are different visions of the stories that come up.
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Michelle Webster-Hein
5.0 out of 5 stars Crucial and magnificent
Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2022
These 9 stories, each told from an animal's point of view, broke my heart and healed it again in the way that only magnificent fiction can. Cumulatively, this collection effects a trance, where we are brought outside our human eyes to a series of windows through which we have never before been able to see. Captivating, magical, luscious, and transformative, it has rearranged my understanding of where we fit within our diverse and dazzling world, which may be the most crucial thing a writer of our time can do.
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jamie Gehring
5.0 out of 5 stars A starred review from Publishers Weekly does not come as a surprise.
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2022
A lovely book of short stories told from the perspective of nine different animals. Talia is an incredible storyteller and I felt myself being placed into these scenes with ease. I found this book to be very powerful and I wasn't surprised when I saw that it received a Publishers Weekly starred review.
Highly recommend.
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Talia in AK
1.0 out of 5 stars Book was missing so many pages!
Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2023
Verified Purchase
The media could not be loaded.
 Only was able to read about half of the stories in the book because it was binded incorrectly with the book starting over after page 38, then after the second set of 38 pages jumping to page 97. This was such a bummer since the stories I read were so good. I wish Amazon would send me a new one so I can know what a manticore is!!!
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