I am surprised how many good writers are out there who have written good books and about who/which I am totally ignorant. Even after more than two decades of browsing in the books bazaar of Abids I don’t feel like I’ve had enough. One thing that keeps me going to Abids is the eager anticipation of what I would find on the pavements. Almost every Sunday I return home with a new book by an author I hadn’t heard about before. Last Sunday too I found, serendipitously, another wonderful title by an author I had no idea about.
It was late in the afternoon and I was winding up my browsing when I chanced upon ‘In the Heart of the Heart of the Country’ by William Gass. This book was in a heap of books selling for twenty rupees and some instinct nudged me to pick it up. I was glad I went with my instinct since later I read that William Gass is no ordinary writer. On the back cover Newsweek describes him as ‘one of the important writers of his generation…’ William Gass is also the author of ‘Omensetter’s Luck’ which is supposed to be a modern classic.
‘In the Heart of the Heart of the Country’ is a collection of just five short stories. Pedersen Kid, Mrs. Mean, Icicles, Orders of Insects, and In the Heart of the Heart of the Country.
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