The Financial Expert
by .Michigan State College Press. $3.00.
This Indian novel describes the rise and fall of Margayya, who starts by dispensing financial advice under a tree, becomes a rich man by publishing a pornographic book, sets up a thoroughly crooked bank, and retires, broke, to the same tree where he began. In spite of his unsavory career, Margayya is no scoundrel, but a pathetic little man trying to get on in the world and acting largely by impulse or in response to outside pressure. There is naturally much Oriental detail, but the book is in no sense exotic. Margayya’s reasons for wanting money are entirely familiar. He quarrels with his son in Indian terms, but the bewilderment of a man confronted with the result of his own poor judgment as a parent is instantly comprehensible. Vivid, sympathetic, wryly amusing, the novel creates a world with beguiling characters.