"If you've never seen a cricket match," suggests Wijidasa ("Wije") Gamini Karunasena, "if you have and it has made you snore; if you can't understand why anyone would watch, let alone obsess over this dull game, then this is the book for you." After a lifetime of hard drinking, the aging Sri Lankan sportswriter wants to spend his last days paying tribute to his nation's greatest cricket players, in particular Pradeep Mathew, a fictional athlete whose prowess is comparable to Bernard Malamud's Roy Hobbs or George Plimpton's Sidd Finch--even though he remains a near-total cipher for the majority of Shehan Karunatilaka's debut novel.
The problem is almost nobody in Sri Lanka remembers Mathew, or wants to remember him. There are hints and allegations that he ran afoul of the nation's cricket authorities before fading into obscurity, but the story Wije eventually cobbles together is darker still.
There's a loopy, discursive quality to The Legend of Pradeep Mathew; it's not unusual for Wije to lead with the climactic moment of a story, then circle back several times, adding outlandish details with each go-around. Don't worry if the sports terminology goes over your head; the core of the novel is in Wije's obstinate--at times petulant--reluctance to let go of the emotional crutches that sustain his identity, even as he acknowledges the damage they've caused throughout his life.
Karunatilaka adds one last metafictional spin to the closing chapters, and though it breaks the connection readers will have made with Wije's voice, you'll be glad you got to tag along on Wije's quixotic search for a too-good-to-be-true sports legend. --Ron Hogan, founder of Beatrice.com