The Short, Happy Life of Harry Kumar

Jerremie Clyde is a reference librarian at the University of Alberta.

Ashok Mathur was born in India and immigrated to Canada in 1962. His
third book, shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for
Humour in 2002, is a humorous retelling of the Hindu epic, the Ramayana.
The story’s hero, bland and unambitious Harry Kumar, is working as a
teller for a Vancouver credit union when he is pulled—along with his
dog, Hanuman, and friend Athnic—into a bizarre quest to save his
friend Sita Simpson. The reader follows Harry on a trip from the Gulf
Islands to Toronto, Australia, and beyond. Mathur has created not only
an epic tale of fate and circumstance, but also a very funny story about
a man and his dog. Readers need not have prior knowledge of the Ramayana
to enjoy this book.