It's not often that a prime minister consents to launch a book at a five-star venue, but when the book is Illustrated History of the Sikhs by the celebrated author of Sex, Scotch and Scholarship, what else could Prime Minister Manmohan Singh do but consent to launching it at the Meridien. The only rule laid down by the PM's protocol: no Scotch until he leaves the venue. The publisher, alas, was less generous: why, oh why, mustOUP pursepinch on the quality of paper for a glossy book that makes it look as dreary as an NCERT textbook?
The hunt for celeb blurbs can sometimes be more arduous than writing a book. Kiran Desai's new novel, The Inheritance of Loss, makes up for the long hibernation (over seven years) since her debut Hullabaloo in the Guava Orchard by carrying a glowing blurb by Salman Rushdie. But can't beat Shefali Tsabary's It's a Mom. She has the elusive Priyanka Gandhi Vadra saying: "I wish I had read this book before I became a mother! It...validates all the feelings new mothers experience but are afraid to acknowledge." Wonder how she managed that?
