The Painter of Signs

Nov 10, 2025 9:49 PM

Author:R. K. Narayan

In this wry, funny, bittersweet story, love gets in the way of progress when Raman, a sign painter, meets the thrillingly independent Daisy, who wishes to bring birth control to the city of Malgudi.

Reviews

At once a satire of post-1989 politics and a love story, it shows two sides of the author: firebrand and mellowed, humane observer... The Call of The Toad shows Grass as one of our greatest living storytellers

—— Financial Times

Mr Grass has a more lyrical, a more glorious sense of locality than any other novelist today

—— New York Times

With The Call of the Toad, Grass brings the fable landscape of the Europe of his lifetime up to date

—— Financial Times

A funny, wise, hugely enjoyable fantasy

—— Financial Times

Impressive . . . Rutherfurd has indeed embraced all of Russia

—— The Washington Post

Russka succeeds where [other books] of trendy Soviet-watching have failed ... Rutherfurd can take his place among an elite cadre of chroniclers such as Harold Lamb, Maurice Hindus and Henri Troyat

—— San Francisco Chronicle

Fast moving ... Rutherfurd believes in adding color and adventure to facts that are exhaustively researched, making history palatable if not delicious

—— Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Sprawling ... Rutherfurd's close observation of Russia's religious and ethnic diversity gives this epic a distinctive flavor

—— Publishers Weekly

Rutherfurd literally personifies history

—— New York Daily News

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