Books

Experiments in Meritocracy

Devika Bakshi

Amy Chua’s controversial new book suggests ‘outsiders’ can and do succeed in unequal America—but at what cost?

Punk Resistance in Putin’s Russia

Ullekh NP

In her new book, Russian-American writer Masha Gessen puts the spotlight on the spirit of defiance that marks Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot

The Place You Keep Going Back To

Chinki Sinha

Sankarshan Thakur’s biography of Nitish Kumar is also an intimate portrait of Bihar, a state you may be forced out of but cannot really ever leave

The Advantages of Failure

Madhavankutty Pillai

Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, on underachievement as a good thing

The Eternal Poet

Rahul Pandita

A new biography of Sahir Ludhianvi brings to life the poet who changed the idiom of Hindi cinema lyrics

Tyranny of the Troll Reviewer

Indrajit Hazra

The withdrawal of Wendy Doniger’s book reflects the increasing influence of the hyper-critic who reads not for pleasure or knowledge, but to spot offensiveness

On the occasion of the publication in English of his novel One Part Woman, Tamil writer Perumal Murugan talks about growing up a reader in a family of farmers and getting into trouble writing about caste

The Marathoner

Aastha Atray Banan

Vikram Chandra finds solitude annoying when he writes, but admits to not being a collaborative enough person to work on movies. He writes 400 words every day, adamant that writing is about a steady pace, not a stroke of inspiration

The Accidental Genius

Akshaya Pillai

George Saunders, who suspects he won the MacArthur genius grant through an error, on his ability to write anywhere and the importance of doing the dishes

Don’t Step Over This Moral Line

Madhavankutty Pillai

Using intriguing illustrations, Michael Sandel, author of What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets, shows how markets are creeping into places they have no business being