What kind of a novel is Fasting Feasting

Fasting Feasting is one of the most interesting novels I have read. Desai describes in depth a universe of contrasts, a duality of visions between two cultures: India and America. The author describes the Indian family to every single detail of existence. The Indian family clings to traditions, while in America consumers constantly seek the newest and the fastest. These are two stories which stand on their own: one of a woman whose personal needs are forever postponed by family and society obligations and the other of a family incapable of discerning the needs of its members and of its visitor. Food and the reaction of food, and failure seems to be the two recurring themes through the entire novel.

The structure of this novel is very simple. It is divided into two parts. First part of the book highlights the Indian traditions, the cultures and mostly the place of a woman, called Uma, in her Indian ...