Novelist Kiran Desai

The Muslims world's "cartoon riots" have continued this week. More protesters are dead in Pakistan, foreign company buildings have gone up in flames, and madrassas have been emptying their students into the streets to rage.

Novelist Kiran Desai looks on with a knowing eye. Her first novel, "Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard," was a funny romp through village life in India. Her new novel, "The Inheritance of Loss," is still good humored, but far darker.

In Desai's new novel, there's trouble in the global village; unresolved rage and anger from colonial days; stunted, alienated half-global citizens; first world - third world power imbalance; and a global economy that crushes as fast as it creates.

Hear a conversation with author Kiran Desai about "The Inheritance of Loss."

Guests:

Kiran Desai, author of novels "The Inheritance of Loss" and "Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard."