Bibliofile

A Battery Is Primed

So how old is he really? And was there a hush-hush army coup to take over Delhi? General Vijay Kumar Singh, the most controversial army general who is seen with yogic babas these days, will tell all in his autobiography, to be out this September. And it seems like a coup of sorts for Aleph Book Company, as the book is a surprise addition to their catalog. It’s co-authored by Kunal Verma, who has made many documentaries on the army. How much really is the general going to tell and how much muck will hit who all? The wait won’t be too long, as the press is working overtime to bring out the book while the general is still in the headlines.

Calling Hearts

Now, here is a unique way to get published. Penguin’s ‘love stories that touched my heart’ contest is to find new writers who have a heartfelt story to tell. Writers have to send their short stories to the Penguin website, and best-selling edgy-romance author Ravinder Singh will select the entries that will be published as an anthology in December. The contest being on till the end of this month, quills across India must be quivering in spasms of debut mush.

Various Starters

OUP has introduced the Indian version of their excellent ‘Short Introductions’ series as part of its hundred years of publishing here. These are short and accessible introductions to complex subjects, like the Indian Constitution, The Poverty Line, Caste, RTI, Capital Flows, Exchange Rate Mechanism and so on. They are handy-sized paperbacks of roughly 200 pages (costing Rs 195) that should be useful to both students and those who ventured into these waters last in school.