Friday, July 29, 2011

A MIDWEEK HAUL, THE FIND ON SUNDAY AND A LAUNCH




ANOTHER SPENSER FIND IN A MIDWEEK HAUL

I have a strange habit. I cannot resist stopping at a bookstore if I happen to be in the vicinity. Last Wednesday I was passing through Begumpet and there was the board of ‘Frankfurt’ bookstore beckoning to me. I got down telling myself that I’d only look at the books and not, surely not, pick up another book. I was almost about to congratulate myself for not picking up a single book in the half hour that I spent looking at the thousands of books when my glance fell on Robert B Parker’s ‘Hush Money’ which was a Spenser title.

Ever since I finished reading ‘Chance’ I had decided to read all the titles in the Spenser series. I had not even started reading ‘Hugger Mugger’ that I found on the other week before I saw ‘Hush Money’ on the shelf. Rather than spend sleepless nights regretting not buying it, I decided to pick up the book though I had to shell out sixty rupees for it. With ‘Hush Money’ now I have three Robert B Parker’s Spenser novels and there are almost thirty four more to find. I want to find his ‘Perchance to Dream’ which is a sequel to Raymond Chandler’s ‘The Big Sleep’ because I want to read it more than anything else by Robert B Parker.

SUNDAY HAUL

After two weeks I was returning to Abids and I was rather restless. The other week I had seen Ashis Nandy’s ‘The Tao of Cricket’ but had not bought it wondering why I, a non-cricketing guy, should read the book. But I had read a few of Nandy’s essays and was impressed by his arguments and insights about a lot of things that confound me. This probably influenced my decision to pick up ‘The Tao of Cricket’ which fortunately remained unsold till then. I thought Hari too might be interested in reading it so I bought it for forty rupees.

Sunday’s other find was the May 2010 issue of ‘Conde Nast Traveller’ magazine, the British edition, that I bought for thirty rupees. There were four more issues that I did not buy hoping to pick them up next week if I do not find anything else. The issue had The Hotlist 2010 of the best new hotels in the world, lengthy pieces on Shanghai, the Amalfi Coast, Menorca and such places where I can never hope to go as long as I continue in this job. There was a small piece by Jan Morris on London and also came to know of her latest book- ‘Contact!’ I read only one article, Harriet O’ Brien’s ‘Friends in High Places’ which made me wonder if Nepal should be the next place I should visit.


LAUNCH OF 'RIVER OF SMOKE' AT HYDERABAD
I got to know the news about the launch of Amitav Ghosh’s ‘River of Smoke’ by the author only a day before the event. Luckily I was free on Tuesday evening and went for the event that took place in a beautiful ballroom at the Park that had the dimensions of an airport hangar. There was the crowd made up of the reading elite of Hyderabad among which was a top cop who I personally knew. It was the almost the same crowd that had thronged Grand Kakatiya for the launch of ‘Sea of Poppies’ three years ago. Though I did not buy a copy of ‘River of Smoke’ I bought a copy of ‘Dancing in Cambodia’ that I thought I would get signed. But I had to leave right after the reading and the interaction with Jyotirmaya Sharma.

6 comments:

Vetirmagal said...

Looks like you had a lovely time!

Vinod Ekbote said...

Yes, Vetri.

It was indeed lovely with all those lovely, rich people around :)

Harimohan said...

I'd love to read 'The Tao of Cricket' Vinod. I can't wait to get my hands on it. Looks delicious!

Vinod Ekbote said...

Hari, I will give it to you in exchange for something more delicious- biryani!

Jayasrinivasa Rao said...

Hi Dada...after reading about Parker in your previous post, I couldn't resist placing orders for 5 titles... somehow I have become an armchair shopper...I am waiting with breathless excitement for the titles to arrive...Do you think I missed something by not being able to attend AG's reading...apart from getting my copy signed...?

Vinod Ekbote said...

Jai, you missed being part of the crowd. No other writer draws such a large gathering in Hyderabad.

Five Parker titles! I can read them after you are through :)