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The Atlas of Reds and Blues: A Novel Hardcover – February 5, 2019

4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 292 ratings

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This Washington Post "Best Book of the Year" grapples with the complexities of the second-generation American experience, what it means to be a woman of color in the workplace, and a sister, a wife, and a mother to daughters in today's America.

When a woman―known only as Mother―moves her family from Atlanta to its wealthy suburbs, she discovers that neither the times nor the people have changed since her childhood in a small Southern town. Despite the intervening decades, Mother is met with the same questions: Where are you from? No, where are you really from? The American-born daughter of Bengali immigrants, she finds that her answer―Here―is never enough.

Mother's simmering anger breaks through one morning, when, during a violent and unfounded police raid on her home, she finally refuses to be complacent. As she lies bleeding from a gunshot wound, her thoughts race from childhood games with her sister and visits to cousins in India, to her time in the newsroom before having her three daughters, to the early days of her relationship with a husband who now spends more time flying business class than at home.

Drawing inspiration from the author's own terrifying experience of a raid on her home, Devi S. Laskar's debut novel explores, in exquisite, lyrical prose, an alternate reality that might have been.

"The entire novel takes place over the course of a single morning... and the effect is devastatingly potent." ―Marie Claire

"Devi S. Laskar's The Atlas of Reds and Blues is as narratively beautiful as it is brutal... I've never read a novel that does nearly as much in so few pages." ―Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy

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Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature
Winner of the 2020 Crook's Corner Book Prize
Long-listed for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature
The Washington Post, 1 of 50 Notable Works of Fiction This Year

The Atlas of Reds and Blues is a quick read, in part, because of these short sections, some only two sentences long. But it’s a page-turner, too, because of the urgency of each small story, each revelatory memory . . . If The Atlas of Reds and Blues and the lyric, thematic and structural care the author has lent it are an experiment, then it is certainly a successful one.” —Ilana Masad, The Washington Post

“[A] devastating, poetic debut about racism in Trump’s America . . . A powerfully written novel . . . Laskar never seems to polemicise; instead she gravely turns traumatic memories into fragments of poetry, floating in the ether, fighting for survival.” —Nikesh Shukla, 
The Guardian

“A novel of identity . . . One of the beauties of this accomplished first novel is its simple and delicate structure.” —Meg Waite Clayton,
San Francisco Chronicle

“The entire novel takes place over the course of a single morning . . . and the effect is devastatingly potent.” —
Marie Claire, The Best Women's Fiction of the Year

“Laskar’s use of vignettes to comment on weighty topics like racism and sexism recalls Sandra Cisneros's
The House on Mango Street . . . Like Cisneros, Laskar varies the tone of her vignettes; some are sad or angry while others are humorous, and their power is collective.” —Anita Felicelli, Bustle

“Laskar has written a searing and powerful novel about the second-generation immigrant experience, making clear the ways in which America terrorizes its own people. It’s a violent look at a violent place, and you’ll feel forever changed for having read it.” —Kristin Iversen,
NYLON, 1 of 50 Books You'll Want to Read This Year

“Laskar shows how women, and particularly women of color, not only have to manage motherhood, marriage, and ambition, but also must fight for respect on top of it all.” —Meredith Boe,
Chicago Review of Books

“It takes place in a morning; it covers a lifetime. Short, vivid chapters, like puzzle pieces, deliver the thoughts of a woman sprawled on the pavement, bleeding . . . Not only does Laskar bring her honed skills as a poet and journalist to her pulse-racing first novel about otherness and prejudice, she also draws on her own experience of a shocking raid on her home. Laskar’s bravura drama of one woman pushed to the brink by racism is at once sharply relevant and tragically timeless.” —
Booklist (starred review)

“Devi S. Laskar's
The Atlas of Reds and Blues is as narratively beautiful as it is brutal . . . I've never read a novel that does nearly as much in so few pages.” —Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy

Book Description

Publicity
  • Coverage in national media (author profiles and reviews) to top women's magazines (O, Elle, Marie Claire, Vogue), newspapers, radio (NPR), top literary podcasts (LitUp, Other Ppl podcast), top literary blogs (LitHub, Bustle, PureWow, Lenny Letter)
  • Curated book placement in book groups such as Belletrist and Book of the Month
  • Potential author profile/first serial with Buzzfeed Reader
  • Op-ed/personal essay on the decline of her daughter's mental and physical health in the wake of the GBI raid on her home pitched to NYT Well, Motherlode, Romper, Scary Mommy
  • Op-ed on "academic mobbing" and learning new activist skills (in the wake of what happened to her family, following the raid) pitched to publications such as Harper's, Marie Claire, Mother Jones and NYT
  • Personal essay for publication such as O Magazine on how "no one likes to talk about racism"
  • Potential author interviews in publications authors used to report for: Raleigh News & Observer, Atlanta-Journal Constitution
  • Local media targeted in Bay Area and Chapel Hill area
  • Author promotion through website at WWW.DEVISLASKAR.COM

    Event Schedule
  • Author events throughout the Bay Area and North Carolina (Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill)
  • Potential author appearance at Bay Area Book Festival 2019
  • Potential author appearance at Los Angeles Times Book Fair 2019
  • Potential author speaking opportunities at Columbia University MFA program

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Counterpoint (February 5, 2019)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 164009153X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1640091535
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 980L
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.5 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.8 x 0.93 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 292 ratings

About the author

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Devi S. Laskar
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Devi S. Laskar is the author of The Atlas of Reds and Blues (Counterpoint Press, 2019), winner of 7th annual Crook’s Corner Book Prize (2020) for best debut novel set in the South, winner of the 2020 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature; selected by The Georgia Center for the Book as a 2019 book “All Georgians Should Read,” finalist for the 2020 Northern California Book Award, long-listed for the DSC Prize in South Asian Literature and the Golden Poppy Award. The novel was named by The Washington Post as one of the 50 best books of 2019, and has garnered praise in Booklist, Chicago Review of Books, The Guardian and elsewhere.

Laskar's second novel, CIRCA, will be published on May 3, 2022 by Mariner Books (@marinerbooks).

Laskar holds an MFA from Columbia University and an MA in South & West Asian Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She holds BAs in English and Journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. She is an alumna of both TheOpEdProject and VONA, among others. In 2017, Finishing Line Press published two poetry chapbooks. A native of Chapel Hill, N.C., she now lives in California with her family.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
292 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers praise the writing style as beautiful and captivating. They describe the book as a great, fast read with a gripping story that touches their hearts. Readers appreciate the sadness and tragedy that are beautifully displayed in the narrative, along with humor and dialectical dialogue.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

37 customers mention "Writing style"36 positive1 negative

Customers enjoy the book's writing style. They find it engaging, with beautiful prose and a poetic urgency. The novel offers readers a new perspective on America through creative language and fragments of memory. Readers appreciate the energy and passion in the writing. Overall, they describe the book as powerful and riveting, offering a disturbing look at othering in America.

"...theme of the two Americas and she delivers it with an original style and a gut-punch that had me reeling...." Read more

"...Written with lush imagery and poetic prose, a must read." Read more

"...guidance about storytelling to create a contemporary and uniquely gripping American tale that touches on such timely issues as identity,..." Read more

"...What I found so remarkable was the non-linear and linear narrative that unfolded together. The whole things takes place in an instant...." Read more

24 customers mention "Readability"24 positive0 negative

Customers enjoyed the book's readability. They found it engaging, with a beautiful narrative and brilliant prose. Some described it as a fast-paced, riveting read that was both sad and pleasant.

"...This is a wonderful book that builds in momentum as it goes along...." Read more

"...The book is an enjoyable one, while also offering a scathing social critique, and I’d love to see a longer follow-up to this thoughtful and original..." Read more

"...It's both an incredible work of literary fiction and a great, fast read...." Read more

"I read this as a book group choice. An easy read but one that took me a bit to get in to...." Read more

9 customers mention "Heartfelt story"9 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the heartfelt story. They find it gripping, heart-opening, and a great read that stays with them. The story is described as intriguing, surprising, and full of sadness.

"...There's plenty of humor and a deep aching love that comes through the pages of this book about racism, place, belonging, family, motherhood, rescue..." Read more

"...and sad but somehow Pleasant and humor filled.. it’s a heart opening treatise on life. The hard parts and sad parts and all the parts. Well done." Read more

"...Great read and heartfelt." Read more

"...me that beautiful, artistic writing can happen in a modern and gripping story!" Read more

4 customers mention "Sadness"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book full of sadness and tragedy. They appreciate the lyrical turns of phrase, irony, dialectical dialogue, and heart-opening moments.

"...Throughout, the author displays a knack for lyric turns of phrase, irony, dialectical dialogue, and weaving in current events...." Read more

"...There's plenty of humor and a deep aching love that comes through the pages of this book about racism, place, belonging, family, motherhood, rescue..." Read more

"...It’s riveting and sad but somehow Pleasant and humor filled.. it’s a heart opening treatise on life. The hard parts and sad parts and all the parts...." Read more

"...It will move you. This book is everything and it displays the sadness and tragedy so beautifully...." Read more

Gorgeous Debut
5 out of 5 stars
Gorgeous Debut
Devi Laskar’s wonderful debut novel is filled with fabulous prose only a true poet can achieve. You will enter a world that is rarely highlighted in literary fiction. This is a story of filled with several themes of loss, home, racism and the unfairness families face in this country. Highly recommended this talented writer’s debut and look forward to more of her future work.
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2019
    Devi Laskar has performed a sort of miracle here: she takes the common (but always tragic) theme of the two Americas and she delivers it with an original style and a gut-punch that had me reeling.

    What is it like to be the daughter of Bengali immigrants – a woman of color living in a sanctimoniously racist upwardly mobile Atlanta suburb? For the unnamed narrator (we get two big hints of the narrator’s name much later on), it means constantly being subjected to commentary such as: “How long have y’all lived here Do you even speak English? Bless your heart, you must miss your people. You stick out like a raisin in a big bowl of oatmeal.”

    When Mother (our narrator) is lying on the concrete floor bleeding out after a raid on her home (we know this from page one), everything that has brought her to this point flashes through her mind. The indignities that she and her three daughters have been forced to undergo in school. The harassment and intrusive comments from everyone from door-to-door salesmen to the dry cleaner aide and grocery check-out people. The comments on her color, her weight, her marital status.

    Ms. Laskar seamlessly weaves other parts of the story – seemingly unrelated but actually quite on-the-mark – in alternating chapters, some of which are no more than a sentence or two. There are scenes, for example, with her German Shepherd rescue dog, Greta, who despite past abuse, never loses her spirit or her capability for love. There are asides about Barbie dolls – many girls on the threshold of adulthood actually decapitate or microwave these dolls with their dream-home expectations. There are references to “my hero” – her on-the-road husband, which start off lovingly and become more and more mocking. And as all this builds, Mother can no longer do what she asks her daughters to do: keep a neutral face with a benevolent smile and absorb all of it to not place herself at risk.

    This is a wonderful book that builds in momentum as it goes along. I closed the last page with outrage that too many of us can treat other Americans with such contempt.
    15 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2022
    Just completed this beautiful book by Devi Laskar. It is a story about a mother and her family, as they tackle the racist reality of living in the South. It reveals so much of what we don't want to talk about and what we want to pretend doesn't happen. At its heart, it's a story of the consequences of being a POC. This book facilitates a necessary confrontation. It made me rethink agency and what that means for a POC. It helped me have a more layered understanding of 'the privilege to speak,' and the high stakes involved for character's who don't have it; often a matter of life and death. It also made me think of silence as strategic and intentional as opposed to inherently passive. The tension of when to speak and when not to raised the energy and tension of the narrative. Written with lush imagery and poetic prose, a must read.
  • Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2019
    Not many works of fiction directly reference Aristotle's "Poetics." This short, atypical novel by Devi S. Laskar, however, skillfully puts into practice the ancient Greek scholar’s guidance about storytelling to create a contemporary and uniquely gripping American tale that touches on such timely issues as identity, discrimination, and violence. The portrait of the protagonist – a journalist and obits writer in downtown Atlanta who is known to readers only as "Mother" – is painted vividly as the action plays out over the course of a harrowing, fateful day. Throughout, the author displays a knack for lyric turns of phrase, irony, dialectical dialogue, and weaving in current events. The structure of “The Atlas of Reds and Blues” is unconventional, with a variety of flashbacks interspersed with the present, but the technique allows for a dramatic buildup that’s worth your attention. The book is an enjoyable one, while also offering a scathing social critique, and I’d love to see a longer follow-up to this thoughtful and original debut.
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2020
    I found the format choppy and sometimes hard to follow. I did appreciate the author's descriptions of the bigotry experienced by the Indian-American characters, as well as their family dynamics. I did finish the book, but it was not a particularly satisfying read. I'm "old school" when it comes to novels - others might appreciate the author's approach.
  • Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2019
    This book haunted me for days after I finished it. It's both an incredible work of literary fiction and a great, fast read. The story of one woman looking back on her life after she's been unjustly shot by police is not all grim. There's plenty of humor and a deep aching love that comes through the pages of this book about racism, place, belonging, family, motherhood, rescue dogs, journalism, America, cops and justice. What I found so remarkable was the non-linear and linear narrative that unfolded together. The whole things takes place in an instant. The ending feels inevitable but somehow still surprising and full of sadness. Highly recommend!
    7 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2019
    I read this as a book group choice. An easy read but one that took me a bit to get in to. I liked the imagery but was disappointed with the loose ends.
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2019
    A beautiful book that takes the reader on a journey. What’s it like to be a woman of color in Atlanta post 9/11? To be the mother of three girls often on her own? To love a dying but good dog? To work in journalism? Grow up Indian American in the south? It’s like three books in one. It’s riveting and sad but somehow Pleasant and humor filled.. it’s a heart opening treatise on life. The hard parts and sad parts and all the parts. Well done.
    6 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2019
    While this book had many interesting aspects, I don’t think this book is for the average reader. It had many literally concepts woven well throughout the story. It had many important concepts, and really devastating stories. However, that being said, this book was tough to get through, and at the end, I just was not over the moon about it. I think it would make excellent assigned reading, but not the best recreational reading.

Top reviews from other countries

  • Sarah Noel
    5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute treat
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 20, 2019
    Amid the popular throw-away thrillers I happened upon this and have been blown away. I can’t do this book justice. It has deeply affected me. When I was reading I absorbed the words. I was engrossed, surrounded by it, engulfed.
    A terribly sad reflection of racism in America on many levels. We can all at least give a friendly smile to everyone.
  • Anjali Chopra
    4.0 out of 5 stars Jumbled story but nevertheless unputdownable
    Reviewed in India on September 11, 2022
    I don’t know what was about this book.. racialism, the barbie dolls, the facts about minorities, the lovely daughters!!! I don’t even know if this kind of blatant racialism still exists - tge story was jumbled, unclear at times, yet highly engrossing - read it at a stretch literally
  • M. Wagner
    1.0 out of 5 stars What was this about.?
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 20, 2019
    This could have been covered in two sentences- there is still prejudice in the America against blacks browns mixed race etc. There was no compelling plot. It was very disjointed, no character development and nothing to endear you to the characters. It was totally impersonal.
  • Rajan Mahadevan
    1.0 out of 5 stars Fancy Title leading you nowhere
    Reviewed in India on February 15, 2020
    Frankly, quite a lousy book, easy to forget after turning every 3-4 pages. Best left in the shop-shelf to collect dust or to recycle paper.