Browse Archives

By Category

By Date



My Friend Sancho

My first novel, My Friend Sancho, is now on the stands across India. It is a contemporary love story set in Mumbai, and was longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize 2008. To learn more about the book, click here.


To buy it online from the US, click here.


I am currently on a book tour to promote the book. Please check out our schedule of city launches. India Uncut readers are invited to all of them, no pass required, so do drop in and say hello.


If you're interested, do join the Facebook group for My Friend Sancho


Click here for more about my publisher, Hachette India.


And ah, my posts on India Uncut about My Friend Sancho can be found here.


Bastiat Prize 2007 Winner

Recent entries

The Curse of Vikram Bhatt

Speaking about his new film Shaapit, Vikram Bhatt says: I did some research and a very important fact emerged.…

Every Dog Has Its Bath

The Indian Express informs us of the invention of a washing machine for pets, which “gives pets an automatic…

Until Death Etc Etc

The WTF opening sentence of the day comes from a Rediff report: According to the National Crime Record Bureau…

A Garland for the Queen

Heard about the recent furore over the garland of thousand-rupee notes that was presented to her Royal Majesty, Mayawati,…

Prodigy

I feel hugely sorry for this kid. In her world, it might be a huge deal to become “the…

26 November, 2008

The Unaccommodated Man (And The Fluttering Moth)

Check out James Wood’s superb review of “The World Is What It Is”, Patrick French’s wonderful biography of VS Naipaul. I love the first paragraph.

George Packer also has a good review of the book here.

And while on books, I was fascinated by this image uploaded by Mark Sarvas of the plot chart of “Harlot’s Ghost”, Norman Mailer’s 1991 novel. Daunting.

Mailer’s considerable achievements include winning the Bad Sex Award, and this year’s winner has just been announced. Here’s the sentence that surely clinched it for Rachel Johnson’s “Shire Hell”:

As he nibbles and pulls with his mouth, his hands find my bush, and with light fingers he flutters about there, as if he is a moth caught inside a lampshade.

If I read that line before I lost my virginity, I’d probably have taken a vow of celibacy. I do take a vow, though, of never attempting to write a sex scene in my own books. Unless I’m taking the mickey out of it—no pun intended.

And to end this post with publishing news, some publishers are feeling the effects of the downturn—and some aren’t. Go, Hachette!

Posted by Amit Varma in Arts and entertainment | Personal

Copyright (C) India Uncut - http://indiauncut.com
All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Email: amitblogs@gmail.com
This article is permanently archived at:
http://indiauncut.com/iublog/article/the-unaccommodated-man-and-the-fluttering-moth/