The Cosmopolitans

The title of this novel is a misnomer. The protagonists are indeed men and women of the world, or think themselves to be. But the substance of the book is really about art and how culture itself is homogenizing the onslaught of urbanization.

The novel opens with a stereotypically elite scene which could as easily be set in New York or London as Bangalore – a party at an art gallery. The guests are markedly urbane, drinking wine and eating vol-au-vents, as well as conversing about European philosophy in a surprisingly colloquial English.