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Space odyssey
Rumina Sethi
The Woman who Thought she was a Planet
and Other Stories
by Vandana Singh.
Zubaan and Penguin.
Pages 206. Rs 275.
THIS
book of short stories struck me as something of an oddity until the
realisation that the common denominator of the entire collection was the
treatment of the world outside earth — the universe, the galaxy,
space. The writer emerges as an astrophysicist who attempts to offer her
readers a perspective into outer space in the form of short stories.
Wake-up
call as gift
Priyanka Singh
The Gift
by Cecelia Ahern.
HarperCollins.
Pages 305. Rs 195.
ONCE
in a while comes a book, the pages of which you can’t wait to turn,
but at the same time wanting to go slow so that the book lasts longer
— the art of an exceptional storyteller. It is not an exaggeration to
say The Gift is one such book. The book is an experience in
itself. It has an impact; that magic quality about it which makes you
pause and take a step back to reassess the course of life and prioritise
issues and people that ought to matter above all else.
Ringside
view of labour issues
V. Krishna Ananth
Privatisation and Labour
Restructuring
by Gopal Ganesh.
Academic Foundation.
Pages 292. Rs 795.
IF
only this book was published, at least a couple of years ago, Gopal
Ganesh would have become a celebrity. The author had embarked upon a
project that simply presumes that the public sectors are necessarily
inefficient and turning them into private enterprises will turn them
into profit-making ventures.
Birth
of a tragedy
Harbans Singh
Guilty Men of India’s
Partition
by Ram Manohar Lohia.
Rupa and Co.
Pages 108. Rs 295.
AT
the outset, it needs to be remembered that this book was written 12
years after Partition and has undergone many prints. Also, the author is
not the only person to have been tormented by the inevitability of the
partition of the country.
A
committed crusader
Laxmi Kant Verma
M. R. Pai: The Story of an
Uncommon Common Man
by S. V. Raju.
Strand Book Stall, Mumbai.
Pages 185. Rs 100.
AS
consumers many of us are not aware of our rights. Due to this
unawareness, we are exploited everywhere whether it is a government or
private organisation. This book is the biography of ‘Uncommon Common
Man’ M. R. Pai, who was a consumer activist, and is written by his
close friend and associate S. V. Raju.
Future
war vignette
Kanchan Mehta
Line of Control
by Mainak Dhar.
Vitasta.
Pages 314. Rs 250.
THE
book extrapolates from historical events and trends — a future war
between India and Pakistan in the year 2011. However, Mainak Dhar’s
alarming a posteriori war vignette is wrapped in his own description of
the novel "a good masala entertainer".
Many
faces of John Mortimer
John
Walsh writes about the man who straddled the worlds of
literature, law and politics with elan
SIR
John Mortimer, Queen’s Counsel, barrister, Commander of the Order of
the British Empire, author, playwright, champagne socialist, wit,
defender of free speech, wine connoisseur, devoted luncher, national
treasure and lord of Chiantishire, has died at the age of 85.
Rising
star
Katy Guest
AS
the youngest winner of the T. S. Eliot Prize, at 30, Jen Hadfield is
also a relative newcomer. The £15,000 cheque that she collected
recently has previously been awarded to Seamus Heaney, Carol Ann Duffy
and Ted Hughes — though never to Andrew Motion, the chair of this
year’s judges.
Academic
jailed for vandalising rare books
Terri Judd
FARHAD
Hakimzadeh, a wealthy academic and publisher, loved nothing more than
caring for the books in his personal library and showing them off to
fellow scholars. Even on his wedding night, his obsession was such that
his bride was left waiting as he dusted off the covers of his precious
tomes.
BACK
OF THE BOOK
-
The Myth Buster —
150 Great Misconceptions Clarified
by Dr. N.C. Asthana and Dr. Anjali Nirmal.
Sterling Paperbacks.
Pages 322. Rs 250.
-
The Global Employment
Challenge
by Ajit K. Ghose, Noman Majid and Christoph Ernst.
Academic Foundation.
Pages 290. Rs 1295.
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