Author Archive
Essay: 'While reviewing the Pale King and other things Wallace-like'

Essay: ‘While reviewing the Pale King and other things Wallace-like’

On Wallace being a fraud Granted, he writes like an asshole at times. Other times, you admire him for sticking it out and spinning the narrative his own way. Bret Easton Ellis wrote about him on twitter once, seven times, consecutively – that DFW was (was because he is dead now) the master of pretention....
Book Review: 'On love and sex' by Khushwant Singh

Book Review: ‘On love and sex’ by Khushwant Singh

Published by: Rupa Publications Format: Paperback ISBN: 9788129124937 Pages: 151 Price: 195 INR This book would have made me highly popular in the 8th grade; I feel I simply cannot attempt this review without mentioning that fact first. When a fool passed along frayed pages of his book ‘The company of women’, he was heralded to...
Book Review: 'Following Fish' by Samanth Subramanian

Book Review: ‘Following Fish’ by Samanth Subramanian

Format: Paperback Publisher: Penguin India Pages: 167 ISBN: 9780143064473 Price: 250 INR The theme of ‘Following Fish‘ is fish. Samanth Subramanian’s travels along the Indian Coast are logged in nine essays- all of them witty yet simple. The book isn’t commanding like some travelogues can be; passages aren’t all assuming or tedious. They are persuasive but...
Book Review: 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde

Book Review: ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ by Oscar Wilde

Published by: Collins Classics Format: Paperback Pages: 272 ISBN: 9780007351053 Price: 150 INR “Heavy with the mephitic odours of moral and spiritual putrefaction.” – Daily Chronicle “Nauseous” – St James Gazette Reviewing an author like Oscar Wilde can make you feel pretty small. Anecdotes and essays about him will tell you that this would have...
Book Review: 'Horn Ok Please: Scrotum Scrolls' by Karthik Iyengar

Book Review: ‘Horn Ok Please: Scrotum Scrolls’ by Karthik Iyengar

Language: English Format: Paperback ISBN: 978812912476 Pages: 258 Price: 250 INR ‘Horn Ok Please: Scrotum Scrolls’ by Karthik Iyengar comes as the second part of what the author tags as a frivology following the adventures of the ‘Morons’ –Chief Redbull, Goose Goldsmith, Derek and Hound. This is the story of how ‘My friends and I saved...
Book Review: 'Narcopolis' by Jeet Thayil

Book Review: ‘Narcopolis’ by Jeet Thayil

Language: English Format: Paperback Pages: 292 ISBN: 9780571275786 Price: 350 INR “If heroin could write, this would be its novel.” – Stylist. Jeet Thayil‘s debut novel ‘Narcopolis‘ is as feverish and stirring as a midsummer night’s dream that leaves you wondering about the depth of nighttime and the insanity of poetry. Spanning the eyes of...
Book Review: 'The Ocean at the end of the lane' by Neil Gaiman

Book Review: ‘The Ocean at the end of the lane’ by Neil Gaiman

Language: English Format: Paperback ISBN: 9781472200327 Pages: 192 Price: 399 INR “His prose is simple but poetic, his world strange but utterly believable – if he was South American we would call this magic realism rather than fantasy” – Times London I had been awaiting Neil Gaiman’s new book as an Alice would await her...
Book Review: 'India Unlimited' by Kulpreet Yadav

Book Review: ‘India Unlimited’ by Kulpreet Yadav

Language: English Format: Paperback ISBN: 9789382536031 Pages: 198 Price: 190 INR Kulpreet Yadav’s ‘India Unlimited’ is a collection of 31 short stories set around the contours of a modern and typical India. For a book claiming to venture the unlimited, it portrays inhibited characters chalked out in a predictable fashion picked out from the common...
Book Review: 'Fragile Things' by Neil Gaiman

Book Review: ‘Fragile Things’ by Neil Gaiman

Language: English Format: Paperback ISBN: 9780755334155 Pages: 448 Price: 375 INR “Dazzling tales from a master of the fantastic.” — Washington Post Book World The real world is no place for a great story and no one knows it better than Neil Gaiman. ‘Fragile Things‘ is a delicacy of short fiction and poetry served alongside...