Bird Milk & Mosquito Bones

A Memoir

De: Priyanka Mattoo

Narrado por: Priyanka Mattoo

From a wry, insightful, and very funny new voice, here is one woman’s search for home, from Kashmir to England to Saudi Arabia to Michigan to Rome and, finally, to Los Angeles—standalone essays that together form a sweeping portrait of a peripatetic life.

"I would follow Priyanka Mattoo to the ends of the earth, because she would know what to eat there, and how to make a friend, and then sit me down and tell me a story." —Emma Straub

Priyanka Mattoo was born into a wooden house in the Himalayas, as were most of her ancestors. In 1989, however, mounting violence in the region forced Mattoo’s community to flee. The home into which her family poured their dreams was reduced to a pile of rubble.

Mattoo never moved back to her beloved Kashmir—because it no longer existed. She and her family just kept packing and unpacking and moving on. In forty years, Mattoo accumulated thirty-two different addresses, and she chronicles her nomadic existence with wit, wisdom, and an inimitable eye for light within the darkest moments. She takes us from her grandparents’ sprawling home in Srinagar, where her boisterous aunties raced through the halls, to Saudi Arabia, where friendships were gained and lost behind the sandstone walls of a foreigners’ compound. We witness her courtship with a nice Jewish boy, now her husband, and her efforts to rep­licate her mother’s rogan josh recipe via Zoom. And we are with her as she settles into her unlikely new home­land, Los Angeles, where she sets off on what is perhaps her most meaningful journey: that of becoming a writer.

Through these astonishingly poignant and often laugh-out loud essays, Mattoo has given us an open­hearted, frank, revealing glimpse into a journey of almost constant motion, as well as a journey of self-discovery.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Riotously funny . . . The Secret Garden meets Nora Ephron . . . A book of enormous heart, humor, and insight that will leave readers wanting more of Priyanka Mattoo’s company.” —BookPage

“It’s wry, touching, warm; it feels like being in the company of your most interesting friend.” —Claire Cameron, Interview magazine

“Priyanka Mattoo has recreated the beloved, intoxicating Kashmir of her childhood in this beautiful memoir, and in doing so, renders the place immortal. I would follow Mattoo to the ends of the earth, because she would know what to eat there, and how to make a friend, and then sit me down and tell me a story.” —Emma Straub, author of This Time Tomorrow

“Wry and moving.” —Mira Sethi, Wall Street Journal

“I was enchanted by Mattoo’s Bird Milk & Mosquito Bones, a remarkably vivid, moving epic of displacement and its aftermath. With brio, insight, and great warmth, this exceptional debut offers, as art can, a lasting home.” —R. O. Kwon, author of Exhibit

“Enjoyably enlightening.” —Booklist

“Distinguished by its sharp wit and beating heart, this is a salve for wanderers of all stripes.” —Publishers Weekly

“The magic of Bird Milk & Mosquito Bones is that it takes us all over the world but always feels like it could be happening right next door. Priyanka Mattoo’s writing is steady and true and warm but also exquisitely insightful and precise. Her family is now our family. Her stories are a part of us. This book is an absolute treasure.” —Jami Attenberg, author of I Came All This Way to Meet You

This is a gem. This is a blockbuster.

I just finished and immediately want to restart from the beginning.

Highly recommend. You will like it in long chucks and in short chunks. ”As read by the author,” should be in big bold letters, because nothing is lost in tone or pace or emphasis. When it is funny, she is funny. When it is sad or heartfelt, makes me want to cry. Lovely.
This is a gem. This is a blockbuster.

Most beautiful and honest storytelling

Beautiful deep story of the beauty and hardships of being displaced and never getting to root down.

Relatable, heartbreaking, hopeful

This book is such a wonderful read. The author narrates her life through a series of short stories capturing moments of joy and despair with a calm, matter of fact way of storytelling. Her stories were self-aware, relatable, funny, tragic, and hopeful. By the last page it felt like I'd made a dear friend and I was truly sad to say goodbye.

college essay type not ready for publication

Couldn't stand her whiney attitude of all she lost and how she never really fit in anywhere, especially since she was very lucky to be alive and doing well in the U.S. And then thrown in at random were common problems that most women encounter. Oh where was a good editor to help out? Did I buy this book to read about that? Yes, the subject matter would be really interesting if written by a good fiction writer!
And last, the author reading her own work was not a good idea. She just couldn't put any ompf into it and her voice is childish.