Sidin Vadukut’s ‘God Save the Dork’ – A Review; The Funniest Book I’ve Ever Read

For quite a long time I had been despairing if I’d ever come across a book by an Indian writer that’s really, really funny. Maybe there are some writers who others consider funny but I haven’t come across any such book. One recent writer who has made me laugh really hard is Sidin Vadukut in his ‘Dork’ books, two of which have come out. Reading his two books – ‘The Incredible Adventures of Robert Einstein Verghese’ and ‘God Save the Dork’ has made me feel that at last we have a truly funny writer.

I do not remember exactly how I came across Sidin Vadukut’s first book ‘The Incredible Adventures of Robert Einstein Verghese’ but I did buy it at a bookstore. It is a funny book loaded with lots of deadly lines that made me double up with laughter while reading. It is about a corporate guy ‘Einstein’ who has some really hilarious adventures you can never have enough of. Everything in the book- the situations, the characters, especially of ‘Einstein’, and the lines are extremely funny. After I finished reading it I had to wait for some time for the second title ‘God Save the Dork’ which I bought and finished reading recently.

‘God Save the Dork’ is funnier than ‘The Incredible Adventures of Robert Einstein Verghese’. It takes ‘Einstein’s adventures to a higher level and is so hilarious that I had to put aside the book in order to collapse on the floor and roll with laughter till my sides ached. You have to read it yourself to know what I mean. His interaction with his girl, Gouri, one of his bosses, Rahul Gupta and others, his Mallu jokes especially about Mohanlal, and also Raveena Tandon, are incredibly funny. There’s also some familiar stuff in GSTD, in that one of the characters is a Telugu guy and there’s mention of Chiru (Chiranjeevi, the actor) in the book.

I am happy I read both these books by Sidin Vadukut and now I am eagerly waiting for the final book in the Dork Trilogy. Sidin Vadukut is one writer you shouldn’t miss reading if you llike zany, irreverent humor. In my view he is on par with Dave Barry, Bill Bryson and the likes. The back cover has Hindustan Times saying the book is ‘Hysterically Funny’ an opinion I completely agree with. If you don’t find the book funny then maybe you ought to get your head examined.