Named a Best Book of Fall 2026 by Oprah Daily and People

“This clever, continent-hopping read expands the frame of the classic campus novel to include the often-invisible characters behind a university education: the parents. . . . Boyagoda's mordant satire of academia and its costs is also a touching tribute to what parents will do for their children.” - Oprah Daily, The Best Books of Fall 2026

“A darkly funny, continent-hopping satire with a sharp eye on the bottom line.” - People

“Ambitious. . . It’s the kind of no-holds-barred book only a consummate insider would know to write—but only one who is also conveniently outside the American university system could get away with writing. . . . An old-fashioned Dickensian tale, it sweeps across continents and campuses.” - Pamela Paul, The Wall Street Journal

“Dazzling. . . The way Boyagoda develops and connects these characters is as compelling as it is seamless, merrily leading readers to the cynical revelations at its core. Working with many of the same themes as Min Jin Lee in American Hagwon, Boyagoda is serious about the bond between parents and children, bringing his satire’s plot to an unexpected and satisfying close with a climactic scene. . . Richard Russo meets Mohsin Hamid in this knowing tale of academia and the lives of struggling South Asians.” - Kirkus (starred review)

"Engrossing… Boyagoda offers a clear-eyed view into academia’s competition, corruption, and exploitation. This leaves readers with much to chew on.” - Publishers Weekly

“It’s hard to miss the parallels between this novel and the social satires of Victorian-era novelist Anthony Trollope. . . A smart cautionary tale about the perils of ambition.” - BookPage

“A book that's a feast, an occasion and a celebration. Randy Boyagoda delightfully skewers the industrial-academic complex but also creates moving characters who seem to have walked in from the dorm and faculty meeting next door. The result is as moving as it is hysterically funny.” - Gary Shteyngart, New York Times bestselling author of Vera, or Faith

“Randy Boyagoda’s Lords of Serendipity is utterly fantastic and timely beyond belief. This is the campus novel we’ve all been waiting for: tender, eviscerating, perfect.” - Junot Díaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

"This is a new kind of campus novel, a wicked but humane satire that envisions a global community of strivers, charlatans, jaded bureaucrats, and ethically challenged scholars whose lives and destinies keep intersecting in unexpected places with unpredictable outcomes. Randy Boyagoda is a wry and clear-eyed guide to this three-ring academic circus of careerism, venality, and stubborn hope for a better future." - Tom Perrotta, author of Ghost Town

"Lords of Serendipity is a sparkling, humane, and irresistible campus novel. As Randy Boyagoda celebrates (and subverts) the comedy of college, he offers what any good education should: not a microcosm, sealed off from the world, but a wide-ranging, free-thinking inquiry into life beyond the ivory tower." - Garth Risk Hallberg, author of The Second Coming

"A sly, wickedly funny campus novel about ambition, hustle and how far parents will go for their children." - The Bookseller