Serious Men by Manu Joseph

I remember reading many well written articles by Manu Joseph in the Indian weekly Outlook edited by Vinod Mehta. Serious Men is his debut novel and has a Brahmin astrophysicist and his Dalit assistant as "the interdependent poles" (New York Times).

And this is from the review in The Independent (UK) by Peter Carty: "Manu Joseph's first novel elegantly describes collisions with an unyielding status quo, ably counterpointing the frustrations of the powerless with the unfulfilling realities of power. With this astute comedy of manners he makes a convincing bid for his own recognition as a novelist of serious talent, the latest addition to a roster of Indian writers who are creating fine literary art from their country's fearsome contradictions." Click here to read the review.

It will be interesting to see how his first novel fares.

Neti, Neti by Anjum Hasan

I am a sucker for anything with a Shillong connection. And Neti, Neti by Anjum Hasan is a well written book. It was shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize 2008. According to the website of the prize:

Twenty-five-year-old Sophie Das has moved from Shillong to Bangalore in search of work, fun and liberty. Neti, Neti’s action follows an increasingly alienated Sophie and her free-spirited friends through offices, pubs, night streets, shopping malls, rock concerts, and the homes of Bangalore’s neo-rich. A shocking murder and an infatuation send Sophie back to the small town of her youth.

Click here to read Jai Arjun Singh's review of the book

My Short Story In DNA Me of 28 June 2009

A short story I had sent to the magazine DNA Me in July 2008 has been published today (Sunday Jun 28 2009) after being in the queue for almost a year.

It is titled Visiting God's Own Country and has been published under the title A Question of Priorities.

Click here to see the story as it was originally written.


The above post will also provide you links to three of my other stories which have been published in the same magazine.

And click here to read it the way it has appeared in print (pdf file):

Lord Meghnad Desai Writes A Thriller

Picture From BusinessWorld (Link given below)

The economist Lord Meghnad Desai has written a thriller. Titled Dead On Time it is about a day in the life of Harry White the British Prime Minister.

Lord Desai speaks to Sanjitha Rao Chaini (BW Books, Businessworld 25 May) about, among other things, his love of theatre, the recession, his love of writing and the Indian politicai scene.

Click here to read this interesting interview.