Mummyjihad

An act of introspection, a lifting of the curtain, a gnaw at the jugular, a wisp of the jocular, all this and more in Earl Fowler's reverent and irreverent exposition of the pain and joy of an aged woman from India plopped into a nursing home on the West Coast. Beyond a culture clash, it is a cultural explosion for Mummy, who finds most things and people repugnant, especially the author, The Printer, while she lusts for A&W chicken strips. Fowler's poetic prose is an uber mash of cultural references, from James Joyce to Glen Campbell, Hollywood to Bollywood, Rabindranath Tagore to Sylvia Plath. A 21st century coat of many colours, these snapshots of immigration, aging, loneliness and loss are salted with irony and Fowler's unique humour. A tale ingeniously told.