the agglomeration of the publishing sector is terrible.

I have heard that Barnes and Nobles in the U.S. uses a system called pay-to-play. Publishers offer a certain amount of money or speakers and the books are in exchange placed more or less prominently.

Lovely.

I’m reading three histories of immigration to the U.S.:

Impossible Subjects by Mae Ngai, A Nation By Design by Aristide Zollberg, and a book by Roger(s?) Daniel(s?) the name of which I can’t recall. And want to start a collection by Eqbal Ahmed.

so given how impossible it is to get a book deal – and you really have to sell out even if you get one – crappy contract, only a bit of money, they change bits so it can sell -i mean one might get lucky – but pretty rarely. it makes sense in as much its all obviously commercial – all about what’s going to sell. so then people might be like to not prostitute my art they’d rather self-publish or something – ah but the literary lot won’t consider them ‘books’. why not!?. very elitist and unpleasant.

i have to say kiran seems like a nice lady and her book sounds interesting and im happy for her, but she made a comment about the publishing world in an interview – ( after her first book) i wasn’t at all impresssed with:

http://www.randomhouse.com/boldtype/0599/desai/interview.html

“The publishing world is growing smaller, which is very nice.”

is it?

well i suppose she was talking to a publishing outfit so may not have wanted to bring up issues of political economy but still! or perhaps ive misinterpreted it.

big fat corporates

“well certainly the Booker anyway ( i keep getting annoyed at having to refer to it as the Man Booker..bloody corporates) is no self-published books are eligible. isn’t that nice.”

Well, there is often a trend of certain themes that seem to win prizes.

Themes that publishing houses think will “sell”.

I am about as pissed of as you are about the corporatism of publishing and books.

Ooooh! That film looks really interesting Nyrone. Might go see it.

“What are you folks reading?”

Books I read recently–right after I finished that damn thesis, I was so ecstatic about not having to read anything on topic anymore and thus able to read what I want, I went to the university library and checked out the books that I had been dying to read:

1. Cracking India: Bapsi Sidwha. I really, really enjoyed this book.

2. The Other Side of Silence: Urvashi Butalia. Interviews of Partition survivors. I got really teary eyed reading some of the stories. Very good book.

3. The Royal Ghosts: Samrat Upadhyay. Very refreshing to hear stories that didn’t involve messed up arranged marriages and miserable women. I thought his stories were powerfully subtle.

4. Butter Chicken in Ludhiana: Pankaj Mishra. A travelogue. I like his writing and his observations.

5. Beach Boy: Ardashir Vakil. Eh– The book was ok. I wasn’t too thrilled by it partly because of the protagonist of the novel who annoyed me. But if the protagonist is able to invoke emotion in the reader, it usually means that the writer was successful in being an effective writer. But the storyline is ok.

6. Salaam Mamma (name of author escapes me at the moment): A book in Italian by a Persian writer. A beautiful book about a boy growing up in pre and post Islamic Revolution Tehran.

anyone going to watch this award-winning film?
an Indian ‘falling down’? I’m there!

http://www.lff.org.uk/films_details.php?FilmID=1006

I am between books at the moment. Just finished Nirpal Dhaliwals novel – it was….alright. I will start reading Vikram Chandra’s ‘Sacred Games’ tonight.

I have yet to read KD’s book…
anyone recommend it here?

Majia Nadesan: Constructing Autism (London: Routledge)

Not much of a fiction fan, personally. Nadesan is social science, but very readable. It kind of explains why there are 500 000 people with autism in the UK, when not long ago it wasn’t even 10 000. And why people like me who use to be politely called eccentrics now get called Aspies! Apparently, it’s all down to those bloody neurotypicals.

See: http://www.neurodiversity.com/

Wasalaam

TMA

Fatasizing AR!!! I’m traumatised…