Four gems, with new introductions, mark acclaimed Indian writer R. K. Narayan's centennial Introducing this collection of stories, R. K. Narayan describes how in India "the writer has only to look out of the window to pick up a character and thereby a story." Composed of powerful, magical portraits of all kinds of people, and comprising stories written over almost forty years,  Malgudi Days  presents Narayan's imaginary city in full color, revealing the essence of India and of human experience. This edition includes an introduction by Pulitzer Prize- winning author Jhumpa Lahiri.  For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. R. K. Narayan (1906-2001) was born in Madras, South India. He is best-known for his vivid fictional recreation of urban India in the Malgudi series of novels. His 1958 novel The Guide won him the National Prize of the Indian Literary Academy, his country's highest literary honour. In 1980 he was awarded the A.C. Benson Medal by the Royal Society of Literature and in 1981 he was made an Honourary Member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.