Bibliofile

If you thought the silly season of books on and about Bollywood stars was over, think again. Shahrukh, Dev Anand, Vyjanthimala, Nargis, more Nargis, and now Shahrukh again. The Making of Om Shanti Om by Mushtaq Sheikh is exactly what his fans want: nice and easy on the eye, and the mind. The lavish coffee-tabler was launched in Bombay this week with a print run that would put most of our bestselling stalwarts to shame: 10,000 copies, with an extra 6,500 in German edition (yes, SRK has German fans too). A vanity job or a foolhardy publisher or what? Pure business, says publisher Ajay Mago. Both the previous srk books were blockbusters, especially Still Reading Khan which sold 30,000 copies. It was not cheap either at Rs 3,000.

Irish Cream

Just how important Delhi is becoming as a publishing hub can be gauged by the way the world is shipping out its writers for the Delhi Book Fair next February. The early birds are already here. The Irish embassy is arranging a performance of Gulliver’s Dublin by Irish actor Eamon Morrissey next week. Following that will be events on Joyce, Beckett and contemporary Irish writers who are coming for readings and interactive events.

Waiting Matters
Nalini Jones, author of debut short story collection What You Call Winter, recounted her meeting with Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. "How can you write?" Jhabvala asked Jones, who has a double writer’s handicap: married, with a day job. "I could because I was in India," Jhabvala went on to add. "Over there we have servants to do everything."