Birth Lottery and Other Surprises

''It''s a simple car bomb, and it''s rigged to a busload of schoolgirls. No one knows it is there except for me.''

Unpleasant truths await a Sri Lankan president in the back of a London cab. An advertising agency has to come to terms with a blown-up collection of pictures of its employees'' penises. A man presumed missing, quietly journals by the sea. A being dispassionately recalls the numerous births it had taken and absurd fates it had to endure. An Englishman, a Dutchman and a Portuguese man walk into a Ceylon bar with grand narcotic designs.

A masterful blend of dry wit, morbid charm and earnest observations, Booker-shortlisted author Shehan Karunatilaka''s The Birth Lottery and Other Surprises is a collection of fantastic short stories that serves up fantasies for both doomsday and everyday, marking the return of one of South Asia''s most compelling storytellers.

Praise for the author''s other works:

Praise for Chinaman

''A crazy ambidextrous delight.'' – Michael Ondaatje

''[A] powerful debut.'' – Kamila Shamsie

''I loved Chinaman.'' – Salman Rushdie

''It is entirely possible that the Great Sri Lankan Novel has been written-and that this wonderful book is it... Witty, insightful, often clever and occasionally profound.'' – Shashi Tharoor

Praise for The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

''Karunatilaka is a fearless writer. It also helps that he is astonishingly funny.'' – Roshan Ali, Indian Express

''[T]he South Asian epic we have been waiting for for a decade. Riotous, funny and heartbreaking. It stays with you long after you have finished reading it.'' – Mohammed Hanif

''The wild horses of Shehan Karunatilaka''s imagination run fast, wild and true.'' – Jeet Thayil