The Middle Finger

A timely, provocative, poignant. campus novel that questions basic ideas of class, privilege and love.

What is the meaning of the teacher-student relationship, and what are the ethical boundaries in terms of friendship and personal intimacy? These questions lie at the heart of The Middle Finger. Megha, a young writing lecturer in New Jersey, struggles to finish her thesis and find full-time employment even as she begins to find underground fame as a poet. At the insistence of her professor, she moves to Delhi to teach at a new university. Soon, she discovers that the university is an island of wealth and privilege, and that her mandate is to teach and train some of the key members of India’s ruling class. But the calling is disrupted as an unexpected new friend enters her life and seeks her support.

In a sharp and lyrical prose. The Middle Finger, tells the story of a poet grappling with questions about mentorship and belonging, moving across geographical space and social boundaries.

Excerpts:

A man from Wall Street attends a poetry event | Mint Lounge

New novel dissects privilege in the classroom | Outlook India

A new book uses fiction to examine the ethics and boundaries for teachers with their students | Scroll

Interviews:

Author Saikat Majumdar on the makings of his book, The Middle Finger | Telegraph India

Eklavya, Power and the Tradition of Mentorship: An Interview with Saikat Majumdar | The Wire

‘Writing fiction is becoming other people along with many invented selves of one’s own’ | Scroll

‘Novels never feel completed’ | Hindustan Times

A Conversation with Saikat Majumdar | Daily Star

Kunzum Cafe: Stories over Coffee | Saikat Majumdar

http://kunzum.com/saikat-majumdar-author/