Fugue States

One of The Globe and Mail’s Best Books of 2017: A perfect mix of entertaining and edgy, Fugue States is a thought-provoking exploration of the first-generation Canadian experience from one of the more irreverent, inventive and daring minds writing fiction today

Fugue States begins as Ash Dhar, a thirty-something writer, opens his mouth to deliver a eulogy at a funeral—the funeral for his own father, a Kashmir-born doctor. But in that moment between thought and speech, something mysterious occurs: a terrible wordless gap into which Ash falls helplessly, recovering only as the concerned faces of friends and family shock him into focus. Later, still unsettled as he sorts through his father’s belongings, Ash discovers a partially completed and baffling work of fiction set in what seems to be Kashmir. Reading his father’s words, Ash feels compelled to know more about this ancestral land—and yet he resists the impulse to visit, loathe to be a cliché, chasing self-discovery in a war-torn homeland. But Ash’s childhood friend Matt—pothead, massage therapy student and self-described “maker of memories”—has no such hesitations and goes in Ash’s place . . . with unexpected and excruciating results. Soon, Ash is forced to rescue Matt by following him to India—where he experiences a second alarming gap, one that echoes and amplifies the mysterious “fugue state” with which the novel began.

Fugue States is at once a parody of clueless tourism; a knowing, uneasy look at contemporary masculinity; and a surprisingly poignant tale about the deep inchoate melancholy that abides in people who, like Ash and his father, and even Matt-the-fool, have never felt completely at home in the world.

PRAISE FOR PASHA MALLA:

“Malla is a fabulously gifted writer. . . . Malla can do everything well.” —Publishers Weekly

“Pasha Malla has a deft touch.” —David Bergen

“Pasha Malla is an impressive young voice that gives one hope for a future of new Canadian writing talent.” —The Globe and Mail

“Malla’s style is sharp and funny. . . . Malla manages to make us chuckle at the absurdity of life. . . . [A] writer to watch.” —NOW 

“Pasha Malla’s debut collection signals the arrival of a talented newcomer to Canadian fiction.” —The Gazette

“[L]ong after I had finished reading them, Malla’s stories . . . resonated in my mind, revealing his tenacious skill. . . . What is most alluring about Malla’s writing is his unfailing ability to grasp the fallibility of his characters as they try to do the right thing, fail, and then go on. Sophisticated and unpretentious, Malla’s approach shows endless empathy for his characters. Like David Foster Wallace and Rick Moody, Malla often asks painful questions, revealing equally painful truths.” —Quill & Quire

“For my money one of the best young writers in Canada.” —Mark Medley, Torontoist

“Canadian author Pasha Malla is writing some of the best short stories in anglophone literature today. Seeing as we’re experiencing a surge of great story collections . . . that’s saying something. . . . I don’t really know how Malla gets away with what he does. . . . But it is astounding to watch him do it.” —Jeff Parker, The Rumpus