It’s a collection of essays presented as chapters in a book by and about the author. She’ll tell you about the many flavours of her happiness, her gloryhallelujah husband, clever son, funny dog, and wrinkle-free parents. You’ll get tips on which books to read, how to differentiate between gourmets and gourmands, how to enjoy being a celebrity-author and why it’s okay to be middle-brow these days (Answer: because middle-brow is the new cool). If all goes well, you’ll end the book aglow with lit-bliss.
There are voluminous footnotes, a recommended reading list at the end and even a couple of tiny shocks to remind us that life isn’t all fresh laundry and double beds: mice get clobbered by an eccentric uncle and a pair of caste-crossed lovers make the ultimate sacrifice in a Kerala temple fable.
If the author sounds as if she’s recently stepped out of a TV commercial maybe it’s no surprise: she tells us she found her voice as a writer while working for an ad agency. She offers us soothing visions of a life in which the sunsets are always beautiful and sadness is only a jump-cut away from a comforting slogan. For the kind of reader who believes the right shampoo can save the world, this is the perfect book.
