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The rainbow war
Himmat Singh Gill
The Weather Makers
Tim Flannery Allen Lane/Penguin Books. Pages 341. £ 6
THE
impact and consequences of climate change on our planet, which many
term as threats to civilization, form the basis of a frightful yet
professional early warning of an impending disaster to the ecology and
balance of nature in this century, according to Tim Flannery,
scientist and author of this fascinating and useful book Each of us
should take up the challenge to reverse man’s willful march towards
self-annihilation, for "now we are the weather makers, and the
future of biodiversity and civilization hangs on our actions.
Hindutva
unravelled
Shyam Chand
Religious Dimensions of
Indian Nationalism: A Study of the RSS
by Shamsul Islam. Media House, Delhi Pages 383. Rs 360.
THE
book is a thoroughly researched and rewarding history of Indian
nationalism. The Father of Indian
nationalism was neither a Hindu nor a Muslim but a Parsi, Dadabhai
Naoroji, the Grand Old Man of India. Communal forces reduced that
secular nationalism into a degenerate marriage of religion and
politics that has given birth to fascism.
Pre-empt
and win
D. S. Cheema
The Power to Predict
Vivek Ranadivé Tata Mcgraw-Hill. Pages 239. Rs 299.
THIS
is the follow-up of the author’s earlier book on real-time business,
The Power of Now. It is meant to help executives to predict and
understand future to know what their customers need, which can keep
them ahead of the competitors. Ranadivé’s emphasis is the next
400-metre ground to be covered in the marathon run, as no one knows
what the terrain will look like at mile 26, which can empower the
companies to finish ahead of the crowd and get into the winning
circle.
Indian
book industry growing by volumes
Prashant K. Nanda
India’s
Rs 80 billion book publishing industry is riding a wave of success,
thanks to innovative marketing strategies like blog discussions, email
to readers and preview booklets to promote new titles. "In the
last two years, the industry has grown manifold. From an unorganised
cottage industry, it is slowly turning into a strategy-driven
organised sector," said Shobhit Arya, chief of Wisdom Tree
Publishing house.
Libyan
Kite Runner
Deepika Gurdev
In the Country of Men
Hisham Matar. Viking. Pages 256. £ 13
A
review in The Statesman about Hisham Matar’s In The
Country of Men had this to say: "Who would publish a book
about the troubles of a Libyan child when, in the eyes of the western
media, the whole country is reduced to the delusions of Gaddafi."
Obviously, Viking wasn’t taking this too seriously, because they did
and the book has emerged one of the hottest this year.
FRANKFURT
book fair
A
colourful canvas
Shinie Antony
Books
by Indira Goswami, Krishna Sobti and Maitreyi Pushpa will air the
"rich, paradoxical continuum of Indian language literature"
at the Frankfurt Book Fair, says Katha, executive director, Geeta
Dharmarajan. Goswami’s The Man From Chinnamasta, Sobti’s The
Heart Has Its Reasons and Pushpa’s Alma Kabutari will be
Katha’s main English offerings at the fair that begins October 4.
She,
the citizen
G.V. Gupta
Women, Citizenship and
Difference
Ed by Nina Yuval-Davis & Pnina Werbner: Zuban (An imprint of Kali
for Women). Pages 271. Rs 495
THIS
is a selection of 14 papers presented at a conference held in 1996 in
London. The subject of the conference forms the title of this
selection. A masterly introduction by the editors summarises the
papers, links them and puts forward suggestions for future action to
secure special citizenship rights for women. Citizenship defines the
political, social and economic entitlements of a full member of a
political community.
Taut
tale
Sridhar K Chari
Year 7007 – Fable of a
forgotten planet
by Vijayakumar Punya Publishing. Pages 180. Rs 145
AN
unknown author, an unknown publisher. And if the title and the garish
cover do not put off the passing browser, the back-of-the-book blurbs
will – "a taut psychological mesmerizing tale… it works at
many levels with the reader and gives a choice to accept it as a
fascinating thriller or a book to transform ones thinking…a must
read multi-generational novel."
Forever
at war
WHEN
77-year-old Italian journalist and writer Oriana Fallaci died last
week in Florence, it was adieu to "Italy’s most celebrated
female writer," as she had been called by Ferruccio De Bortoli,
former director of Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. She
lived in New York, and had returned secretly to her native city before
her death.
House
where Christie lived
Queen
of whodunit Agatha Christie’s best-known novels, many of them first
editions, are being offered for sale to help to conserve the
author’s former home in Devon. Thirty of her best known novels, are
in a 719-lot auction of art and antiques expected to fetch about
#200,000 in Exeter.
SHORT TAKES
Divine notes
Randeep Wadehra
-
Bismillah Khan
by Neeraja Poddar Rupa. Pages 60. Rs 195
-
India Smiles
by Sulekha.com. Penguin. Pages 157. Rs 195
-
Sikh Meditations
by Harchand Singh Giani
Dit Singh Memorial Trust, Ludhiana. Pages 208. Rs 60
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