The Tusk That Did the Damage: A Novel (Vintage Contemporaries)

Praise for The Tusk That Did the Damage: A Novel (Vintage Contemporaries)

A San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year

“Impressive. . . . [James] brings a sharp and unnerving sensibility to bear on dismal and necesssary events.... A captivating rendering of an animal’s point of view.” —The New York Times Book Review

“One of the most unusual and affecting books I’ve read in a long time. . . . A compulsively readable, devastating novel. —Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

“Heart-racingly paced. . . . Moves between the humid intensity of southern India’s jungles . . . and the elephant’s primordial internal landscape with grace and humour, as light-footed as a poacher.” —National Geographic Traveller

“Enchanting. . . . Bighearted, morally complex. . . . James skillfully blends the suspense of a thriller and the erotic tensions of two romantic triangles with mythical, mournful flashbacks.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“Inventive. . . . Remarkable . . . delves into India’s mythic, troubled history with elephants—a strange marriage of reverence and violence—and asks readers to imagine the incomprehensible, to experience the world, for a few moments, through the eyes of a killer elephant called the Gravedigger.” —Los Angeles Review of Books

“Brisk as a thriller. . . . Although the focus is primarily on poaching, the story’s true subject is larger and more profound: How do humans and animals—whose lives at times seem at cross purposes—co-exist? . . . [James’s] elephants loom larger than life.” —The Washington Post

“Gorgeously written . . . unlike anything you’ve ever read . . . . Thought-provoking.” —Glamour

“Spectacular, a pinwheeling multiperspectival novel with a cast that includes my favorite character of recent memory, the Gravedigger, an orphaned homicidal elephant. Tania James is one of our best writers, and here she is at the height of her powers.” —Karen Russell, author of Swamplandia

“[The Tusk that Did the Damage] will leave you breathless.” —Time Out NYC

“Intriguing, tightly plotted. . . . James crafts thrilling sentences.” —Newsday

“[James’s] prose is simple and beautiful, and her characters, both human and pachyderm, are lovingly rendered.” —Bustle Magazine

“Original and multi-layered. . . . James captures the majestic beauty of elephants, the despair of impoverished villagers, and their bloody attempts at self-reliance.” —Washington City Paper

“Impressive. . . . James is a lyrical writer.” —The Guardian

“An artful, restrained novel.” —The Boston Globe

“A brutal look at an ugly industry, James deftly navigates the fuzzy line between right and wrong with compassion and honesty.” —BookRiot

“Imaginative and affecting. . . . You’ll come away feeling angry and helpless about why humans do the things we do, but strangely elevated by James’ tender, tactile prose.” —Elle India

“Indelible.”  —O Magazine

“A novel of great moral intensity. . . . Tania James’s gift, her genius, is to turn this scenario into an occasion for grace.” —Julie Otsuka, author of The Buddha in the Attic