Conversation In A Dead Language: Interview with Lee Siegel
This one appeared first on Rediff.com. Haven’t changed a word. Suggest you don’t either. :~) Oh, one more thing. If you haven’t read Glen David Gold’s Carter Beats the Devil, then you must. It isn’t by Lee Siegel but it’s about magic, magicians, and a beautifully written book, marred only by a somewhat stagey (but [...]
When Paper-Nazis attack: The Media and Selective Celeb-Bashing
This is a reprint of one of my old columns, specifically one of my BRAND BAAJA columns from an advertising-marketing publication called The Brief. In terms of its theme, it still has relevance. You could replace Jeffrey Archer’s name with almost any other celeb who’s currently being bashed for reasons only the media know best. [...]
Dekho, dekho, dekho: DVDs worth watching (and some not)
These aren’t meant to be real reviews, just short notes jotted down to mark the more praiseworthy movies and shows I saw on DVD lately, that seem worth sharing: THE WIRE A realistic police procedural crime drama set in a crime-riddled drugrunners-controlled urban American precinct that explores one honest cop’s quest to re-energize the force. [...]
The Best Goddamn Novel About The Writing Life Ever Written: Book Review of Herman Wouk’s Youngblood Hawke
This is an old column I wrote, one of several hundred (just over 1800, to be exact) I wrote over the past twenty-odd years, mostly about books, movies and the media. I discovered this book in the USIS Library at New Marine Lines, Bombay, as a young boy, an aspiring writer driven mad by the [...]
The history of poorer Indians disappears without record: An interview with author Siddharth Dube
This interview first appeared on Rediff.com. I interviewed Siddharth Dube when his nonfiction book, Sex, Lies and AIDS, was published, and as I always do, read the book before interviewing him (something I’m sorry to say, most reporters neglect to do). I was impressed by his research, scholarship, and most of all, by his chutzpah [...]
New reader reviews and comments by Ashok on the Readerswrite page at www.epicindia.com
Check out the Readerswrite page at the Epic India website. And if you’d like to add your comment on my Ramayana books, or any related topic, or just ask a relevant question, head over to the Feedback page.
Editor’s Choice: INDIAN ENGLISH chosen by best blogs weblog guide!
KINJA The weblog guide that lists the best blogs on the net, have recommended INDIAN ENGLISH SPOKEN HERE. Presumably, the powers that be at KINJA troll the net, seeking out the more happening blogs, and the ones that are attracting genuine interest from other bloggers. Here’s what they quoted Sathish R, another blogger, as saying [...]
The Editor Has His Day (And His Say): Book review of India In Mind edited by Pankaj Mishra
This review first appeared in Hindustan Times. India in Mind Edited by Pankaj Mishra Picador India; Rs 275 Paperback; 336 pages A few weeks ago, I reviewed another anthology, also published by Picador, featuring new writing by promising UK and Commonwealth writers. Three of the writers featured in the book tracked down my email address [...]
Myopic Media: A review of Naina and a comment on shortsighted Indian film critics
One of the more unpleasant faces of Indian journalism, if you can call it that, is its recent U-turn into the driveway of Bollywood Plaza, directly across the road from the Page 3 Pasha Palace, and diagonally opposite the Politickos Politbureau. In other words, in recent years, Indian journalism has clearly shifted away from serious [...]
Dizzying Depths: A review of Vertigo by Ashok Banker by S. Manzoorul Islam, Professor of English, Dhaka University
This review appeared on 7 May, 2005 in The Daily Star, Bangladesh. It is reproduced here verbatim, not one word altered or edited. Dizzying depths: A review of Vertigo by Ashok Banker, Penguin India New Delhi, 2005 reprint, 392 pp, Rs. 295 1. The setting of Vertigo is Bombay, or rather slices of it: the [...]
Brutal Business: Book Review of Down And Dirty Pictures by Peter Biskind
Actually, more than a review, this is a recommendation. If you have any interest in Hollywood, movies, independent film making, or just about the entertainment biz in general, this book is a must-read. Biskind is the author of Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, a study of Hollywood movies during the Seventies. This book is a sort-of [...]
See Saw: The Must See Movie For Movie Buffs
If you haven’t seen it already, see SAW. It’s probably the smartest script you’ve seen rendered into film since The Usual Suspects. It’s a low-budget film, with the scriptwriter playing one of the main leads, and made on a shoestring budget (by Hollywood standards, $1.2 million) by two very creative and resourceful young talents, both [...]
East of the sun, west of Europe: A short story
Here’s another short story. This one’s science fiction. It appeared first in the US genre magazine Artemis. I’ve seen it listed in some places as my first science fiction short story. That’s not true. I’ve also seen another story, In The Shadow Of Her Wings (also posted on this blog), first published in the prestigious [...]
Have Time, Will Travel: Confessions Of A Desi Time Traveller
Hi. Apologies for not posting as often as I usually do. It’s not for lack of wanting. I’m a compulsive writer and reader, the kind who can sit all day and keep typing until they drag me away kicking and screaming. After I first realized I seriously intended to become a writer, at age 9, [...]
Epic India Yahoo Group: Restart or don’t start? Vote now!
Some of you, about 50 at last count, may recall the Epic India Yahoo newsgroup I’d started sometime last year, for fans of my Ramayana books as well as people interested in Indian culture, new and old, in general. Early this year, I had to put the group on hiatus because my other commitments, especially [...]
This is the final cover
This is the final cover for Penguin India’s edition of Armies of Hanuman: Book 4 of The Ramayana, due out in June 2005 in Indian bookstores.
My Sister, The Moon: A short story
MY SISTER, THE MOON by Ashok Banker She woke and found herself sprawled across a strange bed in a strange house beside a strange, naked man. The man was asleep, snoring slightly, and she rose to her elbows and stared at him for a moment. She had no recollection of ever having seen him before [...]
In this cup, the ocean: A short story
This one is an oldie but goodie from my back drawer. I wrote this story at least 15 years ago, maybe even earlier, back when I hadn’t had a single book published, and virtually no hope of ever having one published. My wife and I were recently married, and our first child, our son, (Ayush, [...]
Rhyming ecopoesis with piss and other literary debuts: Book review of Picador New Writing 13
(This review appeared earlier in The Hindustan Times, New Delhi.) New Writing 13 Edited by Toby Litt & Ali Smith Picador Indian price L 4.99 paperback; 356 pages This paperback anthology features 46 disparate short stories and poems under the very broad thematic umbrella of ‘new writing from established writers and names to watch’. Published [...]
Setting Free the Skeletons: Book review of Hollywood Animal by Joe Eszterhas
Lotus House Books, one of my favourite bookstores in Mumbai, is having a clearance sale. Those of you who know the place, also know that a couple of years ago Lotus moved from its quiet idyllic off-S.V. Road location to a petrol pump. The new store location was better for parking, sure, but it had [...]
