Books

India Untold

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Nine Lives is proof that Dalrymple knows this country better than most Indians, but it also displays a creeping complacency in writing about it.

The Indian Art of Murder

Rahul Jayaram

We know Sherlock ‘elementary’ Holmes, we know Hercule ‘little grey cells’ Poirot and we know Philip ‘I collect blondes and bottles’ Marlowe. Now, several writers are making a pitch for the next great detective—from India

Murder Most Foul

Shivam Vij

Was the gruesome killing of historian Papiya Ghosh linked to the book she was working on? We may never know, but we can now at least read her book

Bedtime Stories

Sohini Chattopadhyay

Writer and filmmaker Ruchir Joshi on the pleasures of ‘acceptable porn’, the joys of Savita Bhabhi and his new anthology of erotic stories

A Life Less Ordinary

Vineetha Mokkil

This Orange Prize winner lays bare the fissures in seemingly perfect relationships.

‘Much in Dan Brown’s Book Not True’

Sohini Chattopadhyay

Mark Tabbert of George Washington Masonic Memorial tells us what he thinks of Dan Brown’s latest effort.

Happy Birthday, Uncle Pai

Manju Sara Rajan

Anant Pai, the adoptive ‘Uncle’ of generations of Indian children, has turned 80. Pity we can’t find an adequate gift for the man who gave us so much joy?

Blockbookster

Elizabeth Kuruvilla

Simpsons writer Larry Doyle’s first novel is already a movie. And the second looks set to follow suit.

The Silent Storyteller

Arindam Mukherjee

A daughter’s tribute brings to life the portrait of legendary filmmaker Bimal Roy: withdrawn, reticent, yet drawing out the most memorable of performances