Literary Streamer
If you’ve ever wondered whether litfests promote the sale of books, the “official” booksellers at this year’s Jaipur litfest, Full Circle, has come out with a list of the 50 bestselling titles at the litfest. On top of the list is Fiona Caulfield’s Love Jaipur, Rajasthan, the fourth Indian title of the Love Travel guides. Her score is 103 copies sold. Shaukat Azmi’s Kaifi and I is in second place (80 copies), followed by Selected Poems of Gulzar translated by Pavan K. Varma (65). Others in the top 10: Nine Lives by William Dalrymple (52), The Storyteller’s Tale by Omair Ahmad (42), In Search of Sita ed. by Namita Gokhale and Malashri Lal (41), The Bin Ladens by Steve Coll (41), The Wish Maker by Ali Sethi (41), Something To Tell You by Hanif Kureishi (38), and The Gathering by Anne Enright (35).
Dash of Gandhigiri
Would you pick up a book with a foreword by Indira Gandhi? And if Sonia Gandhi had also added her two para’s worth to it? Apart from brag value in Congress circles, are two forewords better than one? Ask M.S. Gill, who has come out with a new edition of Himalayan Wonderland: Travels in Lahaul and Spiti, declaring “With Forewords by Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi”—better than a Padma award!
The Hack’s Laugh
Chetan Bhagat may have been pushed into 24th place in the Jaipur litfest’s bestseller list, selling a mere 28 copies, but he’s taken revenge on the literary sorts in 2 States: The Story of My Marriage by poking fun at how a literary type would dwell at tedious length on how it’s raining instead of just getting on with the story.
