Bibliofile

Ivory’s other half, Ismail Merchant, is coming out with a new book. No, not another passionate mealsbook, nor even a book on filming Mystic Masseur. My Passage from India—A Film-maker’s Journey from Bombay to Hollywood and Beyond is an engaging memoir starting with Ismail’s childhood days in Bombay, raised in a household of women—he was the only boy with six sisters. His love affair with films started with a schoolboy crush on the yesteryears star Nimmi. At 66, Merchant has lived and loved (and eaten!) enough to fill out his memoirs.

Everyone knows how literary prizes boost book sales. After the announcement of this year’s Man Booker prize, Yann Martel’s victorious Life of Pi sold 5,000 more copies in the UK than the week before. And now that Rohinton Mistry has won the $15,000 Kiriyama Prize, perhaps he too can hope for a similar miracle. So far, however, UK sales of his Booker-shortlisted Family Matters have gone up by a mere 11 copies.