Anuvab Pal's books

ANUVAB PAL Playwrigh A book that means a lot to you? AS Byatt’s Possession. I love the way it’s written and the idea of a literary detective novel. But it doesn’t mean much personally. A book that does is David Mamet’s Bambi Vs Godzilla. Your favourite character from a book? It has to be a cross between Professor Moriarty from the Sherlock Holmes books, and Digital Dutta from Sarnath Banerjee’s new novel. An author or genre you dislike? Definitely dislike books titled Mistress of Spices, Master of Cardamom, First Cousin of Mango or any magical-realist tour guide of a non-existent nation of child widows or levitating transsexuals, or where Indians turn into flowers, exotic meats, gods show up, etcetera. Last book bought? Foreign Correspondent: Fifty Years of Reporting South Asia. Last book read? Either Hamish McDonald’s The Polyester Prince or Sarnath Banerjee’s The Barn Owl’s Wondrous Capers. A very overrated book or genre? The whole Paulo Coehlo thing. Also Jeffrey Archer. Why is he considered a famous writer in India and nowhere else? A book you wish you’d written? I wish I’d thought of Harry Potter or Tintin. I’d be rich. And I like the stuff those two do. Latent English public school politics, globe-trotting, etcetera. Your favourite writers? Ian McEwan, AS Byatt, Oscar Wilde, Martin Amis, David Sedaris, Woody allen, Haruki Murakami, Julian Barnes, Ramchandra Guha. A book you’ve always wanted to read, but haven’t? I’ve never actually read any PG Wodehouse. People say he’s funny. ANNIE ZAIDI