Book Review - Notes from the Hinterland, Shashi Tharoor & Others

Reading this book will help you understand why Indian movie makers prefer producing remix songs out of old classics instead of new, original ones - tried and tested product, guaranteed success, easy money. Books like these are published for the same reason - the publisher wants to make some quick money, adding to the count of books published and making hay while the old sun is still shining warm. 

I see no purpose for the existence of this book, except for the publishers' desire to mint some quick and easy money. This book is a collection of 10 already published works by authors from a medley of backgrounds. While RK Narayan, Sainath and Tharoor are all established names, the book carries the works of lesser known authors like Snigdha Poonam as well. But there is no uniformity in the genre of these 10 chapters. The last couple of chapters also reveal - yet again - the anti-BJP agenda of the editor. And that is the only string that ties these beads ogether. 

If you are reading this as a sampling of works by various authors, this book serves a purpose. Else, just ignore this. You are losing nothing by not reading this book. 

3 stars for the quality of the content, none for the usual cheap trick of republishing the already successful  works under a new combination, passing them off as fresh books.