The Company of Women

The Company of Women is a novel by Indian author Khushwant Singh about a divorced man's extensive sexual exploits. The novel also addresses themes of globalization and the hedonistic lifestyles of the newly wealthy upper-middle class. Background Singh wrote The Company of Women at age 84, drawing inspiration from his father's series of love affairs after divorcing his mother. Singh described the resulting book, which was sexually explicit, as "fantasies of an octogenarian." The graphic sex scenes were often remarked upon in the press and by readers; one lawyer in Chennai filed a complaint about what he called its "obscene" content. Plot summary Mohan Kumar is an Indian student. He wins a scholarship to Princeton University in the United States, where he soon develops a reputation for having an unusually large penis. He loses his virginity to Jessica Brown, a beautiful black woman, and sleeps with dozens of other people, including older Pakistani woman Yasmeen Wanchoo. Mohan later returns to India, becomes wealthy, and settles into married life. But his passion for women continues undiminished, despite his marriage to a "nagging and ill-tempered" wife. He is unfaithful during his marriage, and once they separate, he places a classified ad, offering to pay women to sleep with him.