A Writer's Nightmare

Essays discuss weddings, mathematics, coffee, umbrellas, teachers, newspapers, architecture, the caste system, and India.

"These days everyone feels the right to comment on any subject not necessarily concerning them," notes Narayan. "I have written all the following essays because I had to." Originally published in the Hindu, an Indian weekly newspaper, these brief, conversational reflections range in topic from coffee ("For a South Indian, of all worries the least tolerable is coffee worry") to the curse of the British presence in colonial India, to the mess made of Narayan's novel, The Guide , by a gang of American moviemakers. The collection ranges equally in accomplishment: though witty and knowing, Narayan sometimes natters on, perhaps hindered, as a novelist, by the inherent limits posed by fact in journalistic form. Seemingly filling space, he comments, "A little gardening goes a long way" and "I remember I was very proud of being a scout." But when compelled to write by some more pressing need than deadline, the novelist produces a perceptive portrait of Indira Gandhi and a spirited tribute to the monkey.

- Publishers Weekly

RK Narayan was a well-known Indian writer famous for his set of work and writing in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi. He was one of the leading and famous authors of early Indian literature written in English along with two others, Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao.

Pre-Owned (from a private library)
Size: 130 x 195 mm
240 pages
Paperback
Penguin Random House India, 1988
Language: English
ISBN: 978-0140107913
Condition: Good, slight markings, edge tanning & shelf wear