Bibliofile

Like Drabble, American writer Jonathan Franzen is also digging in his heels and refusing to be dragged into the literary circus. When his critically acclaimed novel about a dysfunctional American family, The Corrections, was chosen by Oprah Winfrey for her Book Club, everyone thought he'd hit the bestseller jackpot. But not Franzen: he told interviewers that he felt "uncomfortable" about joining Oprah's dubious list of litterateurs. Such dedication to high literature has earned Franzen the title of "Ungrateful Bastard" by the shocked publishing industry, which counts on the Oprah label to sell at least 5,00,000 more copies of anybook.

No Indian writer has dared to opt out of the mandatory bookreading and booklaunch circuit as yet, not even Vikram Seth or V.S. Naipaul, but Ashok Banker, author of two immemorable thrillers, is planning to do just that with his next book, The New Ramayana. Having landed a whopping book deal (running into an advance of Rs 10 crore) with Warner/ Little Brown US and UK for a three-volume "reimagining" of the old epic, Banker doesn't want to give interviews or press photos as he wants the book to sell on its own merit. But the question is: won't his publishing house demand its pound of publicity flesh from him?