Books
When Something Works
Tabish Khair
As with her first collection of poems, Tishani Doshi’s best poems here are those in which a female experience, located boldly in the body, works as a comment on something larger
The Free Man
Ah, the joys of reading a diasporic story that’s not angsting itself silly over finding one’s roots
All Noisy on the Western Front
How did the West suddenly get so much richer than the East about 350 years ago? Another book on business history, another explanation
The Last Great Devadasi
Legendary Bharatanatyam dancer Balasaraswati’s story, as told by her son-in-law, is pleasant enough but it glosses over the debate at the heart of the art form—the abuse inherent in the devadasi system
The Importance of Living Intensely
Teju Cole on the impossibility of being an invisible author, and the need to turn down dinner invitations
Dazzled by Their Soul
Our politician poets such as Kapil Sibal are so in love with themselves that they believe every eructation of theirs deserves a readership. Our literary culture is more than happy to oblige
Power of Celibacy
Joseph S Alter’s book studies masculinity in modern India and spans territories as distinct—if linked—as wrestling, exercise and saving semen
Dirty Rotten Murderers
Modern crime fiction seems to have caught up with the perversity of real-life violence. Gone are the days when the little grey cells were all that was important to a racy read
The Invisibles
The Indian criminal justice sytem is like the market for garbage, where innocence and guilt can be bought and sold like polyurethane bags. This is how Abdul, the main character of Katherine Boo’s book on living and dying in a Mumbai slum, makes sense of his tragic life. An extract
Think Difference
An engaging book by a Nobel laureate that could leave the discerning reader even more so
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