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Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

It is a Bowdoin College tradition that each entering class read a common book during the summer previous to their enrollment. Incoming First-Year students assemble in small groups led by members of the faculty to discuss the book during Orientation.

Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai is the common reading for the incoming Bowdoin Class of 2011. Publishers Weekly calls this novel "stunning" and says, "In this alternately comical and contemplative novel, Desai deftly shuttles between first and third worlds, illuminating the pain of exile, the ambiguities of post-colonialism and the blinding desire for a "better life," when one person's wealth means another's poverty."

This novel, which normally retails for $14.00, can be purchased at a 30% discount from the Bowdoin Bookstore. Please purchase and read this book before arriving on campus, in preparation for the lively discussions that will occur in late August.

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