Writer and editor Karan Madhok's new work of fiction, MONKEY!, is now open for preorder from Aleph Book Company. Madhok announced the book on Instagram on 18 September, tagging the New Delhi publisher and directing readers to the preorder link in his bio.
What the book is about
In the announcement, Madhok describes two strands. The first is set in a picturesque resort town in the Himalayan foothills on a thunderous monsoon day. Amit Nishani, widowed and displaced, works as a hotel manager in what Madhok calls an alien land of deodars, snowy peaks, relentless rain and menacing simians. There he meets a Monkey that stares into his soul. "I can see you," it says, "in words outside of language." Amit, Madhok writes, confronts loss, regrets, mortality, and Monkey.
In a parallel world, an unnamed woman rides a train with no plan to get off. She sits on the middle berth with her late father's jhola, filling the pages of an unfinished manuscript among a curious cast of fellow passengers. The cover shown in the announcement, a yellow vertical title and a sketched eye on a dark green background, is credited to Antra Kay.
Format and release
Madhok's website lists MONKEY! as a novella coming soon from Aleph, while his Instagram post and the Amazon.in listing describe it as a novel. The retailer page lists a hardcover of about 152 pages, ISBN 978-9365230086, with release due around 5 October 2026. Aleph had not posted a dedicated page for the book when this piece was checked, so the release date is the retailer's.
Madhok's earlier books with Aleph
MONKEY! is Madhok's third solo title with Aleph. His debut novel, A Beautiful Decay, was published in 2022. It follows Vishnu, a young Indian student murdered in a hate crime in Washington, D.C., and traces the violence that shaped his life on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 2024 Aleph published Ananda: An Exploration of Cannabis in India, a non-fiction book about the plant's botanical, spiritual, medical, recreational and legal place in the country. Aleph's page for the book describes a researched account that travels from Malana to Kerala and into clinics, temples and the grey markets around the plant. According to Madhok's website, Ananda won the REC-Valley of Words Award for English nonfiction in 2025.
His connection with the publisher goes back further. His short story "Public Record" appeared in Aleph's 2022 anthology A Case of Indian Marvels, edited by David Davidar. MONKEY! is his first fiction since that non-fiction project, and at about 152 pages it is shorter than his earlier books.
About the author
Besides writing books, Madhok is an editor and co-founder of The Chakkar, an online journal of Indian arts and culture. He co-organises the Landour Literature and Arts Festival, whose next edition is listed for 26 and 27 September 2026 at Ivy Bank in Landour, and he runs Hoopistani, a long-running blog on Indian basketball. He holds an MFA in creative writing from American University in Washington, D.C., where he won the 2018 Myra Skralew Award for the best MFA thesis in prose.
His books cover a wide range: a hate crime in the United States, cannabis culture and policy in India, and now a monsoon hill town where a Monkey speaks without language. The new book returns to invented characters, with two parallel stories set in the hills and on a train.
How to get a copy
MONKEY! is available for preorder through the link on Madhok's Instagram profile and through retail listings, with copies expected around early October 2026. Aleph Book Company is based in New Delhi.
The
carries the preorder details.
