title: Arresting God in Kathmandu
text: # Arresting God in Kathmandu
  
  Arresting God in Kathmandu is the debut book by Nepali-American author Samrat Upadhyay. Published in 2001, Arresting God in Kathmandu was awarded the Whiting Writers' Award for fiction. The book marks the first time a Nepali writer writing in English has been published in the West.
  
  ## Synopsis
  
  It is a collection of nine short stories that provide a glimpse into everyday life in Kathmandu, Nepal. The stories included in the books are:
  
  * The Good Shopkeeper
  * The Cooking Poet
  * Deepak Misra's Secretary
  * The Limping Bride
  * During the Festival
  * The Room Next Door
  * The Man with Long Hair
  * This World
  * A Great Man's House
  
  ## Reception
  
  Publishers Weekly calls Upadhyay's writing "assured and simple", concluding that "Upadhyay anchors small yet potent epiphanies in a place called Kathmandu, and quietly calls it home." On the other hand, Kirkus Reviews called the book a collection of "diverting if sometimes lukewarm tales."
  
  