Bookless in Baghdad
Reflections on Writing and Writers
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- $10.99
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Publisher Description
Shashi Tharoor is once again at his provocative best. In the title essay, we learn the steep price paid by some Iraqis just to obtain a book; what does it mean when selling books, essentially selling culture, out of one’s own library is the only way to put bread on the table? Later, Tharoor reminisces about growing up with books in India and the central position of classics like the Mahabharata in developing his own literary identity. The poignant homage to Chilean poet Pablo Neruda recalls his incendiary deathbed challenge as an oppressive military regime invaded his home: “There is only one thing of danger for you here—my poetry!”
“The defining features of today’s world,” Tharoor writes of the global stage, “are the relentless forces of globalization—the same forces used by the terrorists in their macabre dance of death and destruction.” His astute views on Salman Rushdie, India’s love for P. G. Wodehouse, Rudyard Kipling, Aleksandr Pushkin, John le Carré, V. S. Naipaul, and Winston Churchill make for fascinating reading. His insightful takes on Hollywood and Bollywood will intrigue even the most demanding cinephile. Together, these thirty-nine pieces reveal the inner workings of one of today’s most eclectic writers.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This collection of short essays by the Anglo-Indian novelist and senior U.N. official would seem to hold out the promise of an ethnographic consideration of the life of letters. Alas, the title essay, about the "book souk" in besieged Baghdad, is something of a red herring. These essays, newspaper columns and speeches do not, by and large, try to assess the situation of literature in war-torn regions, or any other regions for that matter. In one piece, the author describes the experience of having his novel adapted to the big screen; another is an elegy for a defunct Anglo-Indian review; a third is an anecdote of traveling to Spain for a cup of coffee. These are all personal reflections as when Tharoor devotes an entire column to answering the criticisms of an Indian journalist, deflecting critiques of his hairstyle and choice of clothing. Tharoor's novels, as he never tires of writing, have been lavishly praised all around the world. But this book's topics as well as the author's liberal use of culture-specific shorthand would seem to make it primarily of interest to the Anglophone Indian community.
