Programming note

Just a quick note to say that the blogging here will / may be a bit sporadic for some time – more off than on. Apologies to the four people who read this blog — yes, it’s increased — for not writing this note earlier.

Hope to be back soon.

Exhibition of Mario de Miranda’s cartoons

The Indian Institute of Cartoonists is currently displaying Mario Miranda’s cartoons at No. 1, Midford House, off M.G. Road. (This place is in the lane next to the Kids Kemp on MG Road.) The exhibition is on up to 24 October 2009.

I went there today and it was a really nice exhibition of his work, from stuff he’d done when he was younger (his diaries) to his more contemporary stuff with everything in between. I had forgotten about Miranda’s cartoons that used to appear in a magazine — I can’t remember which, it may have been Illustrated Weekly — with the characters Miss Fonseca and Miss Nimbupani who I had completely forgotten about. Those cartoons were brilliant and it was fun to relive a few of them.

Mario, like all great cartoonists, has a unique style and you can recognize his cartoons the instant you see them. (One interesting thing was that some of the work displayed at the exhibition were slightly different from his “regular” work, which was a nice surprise.)

The other great thing about the exhibition is that you can buy some of his cartoons and other work – there are small postcards, covers, collections, and bigger stuff that you can frame. And, it’s not all that expensive either, at least I didn’t think it was. I got a couple of things and I’m looking forward to framing them.

If you liked Miranda’s work, don’t miss the exhibition; it’ll be worth your while.

Write to authors whose books you enjoy

(Gets on soapbox) If you read a book that you like, take a few minutes and send a note to the author. Most likely, you’ll be able to find the author’s email address quite easily now-a-days. (There are some authors who don’t list their information and if you like their book a lot, you can always write to the publisher.)

My point in telling you about all this is that writing is a terrifically lonely business and writing a book, any book, is hard work. So, if you read a book that you appreciate, take a few minutes of your time to tell the author about it. They will, in all likelihood, be happy to know that you enjoyed their book.

While you’re at it, don’t expect a response. Some authors do respond but some may not be able to. You’re not writing for a response anyway, right?

I’ve written to authors quite a few times and I always feel nice about it, so that’s another reason to do it. I suppose that I could write more to more authors though.

P.S. This goes for other writers as well as bloggers but that feedback can be given via comments now-a-days, which is why I didn’t explicitly mention them.

A Perfect Mess

Have you ever had one of those moments when you realize something that’s been staring you in the face but haven’t realized till that moment and you want to smack yourself and say, How come I didn’t notice that? That’s kind of how I felt after I started reading A Perfect Mess by Abrahamson Eric & David Freedman.

Consider this: Conventional wisdom tells us that organized is good, order is good, we must put things in their proper places, clutter is bad, etc. But, have you ever stopped to wonder why we tend to, in varying degrees, be messy with our homes and our offices or workspaces. Yes, it’s easy to be messy but is there something more to it?

That’s the subject that the authors of A Perfect Mess explore. And it’s stuff worth thinking about: how much time do you spend organizing files (real or virtual), keeping things a certain way, etc. If you like to organize stuff and keep things “clean”, you’ll be surprised at how much time and energy — physical and mental — you may be throwing at the mess problem. (The authors take a dig at David Allen (GTD) and Steven Covey (Seven Habits) for their productivity principles which lean towards the organizing side.)

It’s not like the authors are telling you to be untidy and throw things around but that there can be some good to having things, for lack of a better word, messy. And, if you think about it, we’ve been told to be neat, clean, tidy, organized, but never to be messy. The core idea of the book is that there’s a certain level of mess that we can tolerate in our lives and it won’t hold us back – in fact sometimes it can be helpful.

If you’re one of those people who like to read about productivity or about personal organization or clutter or has OCD, this is a book that you must not miss. You will look at mess in a different light and it won’t be negative.

Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance

Atul Gawande’s second book Better is a collection of his experiences as a surgeon. (If you’ve not heard about Gawande, Elizabeth Gudrais’ article (An unlikely writer) for Harvard magazine is a must read.)

Gawande divided the book into three sections based on what he thinks a surgeon should be and in each section he draws from his experiences as a surgeon and an observer to produce some compelling writing. There’s stuff in there about hand washing in hospitals, polio vaccinations in India, the absolute miracle that is the birth of a child, and other wonderful stories.

Gawande’s strength is that he writes simply and he explains stuff clearly, which as any writer will tell you are the hardest things to do. Did I mention that the man’s a surgeon too — some people get second helpings on the talent buffet before they are born. (If after reading the book you want to jump off the nearest cliff because your writing isn’t anywhere as good as Gawande’s, you’re not alone.)

You can find a listing of Gawande’s articles via his web page. Now, if you’ll excuse me there’s a cliff I must get to.

Bad Science

Reason No. 917 to start a blog: People who read it will know about you and may actually buy your book when it comes out.

That’s the only reason I picked up Ben Goldacre’s book, Bad Science. I had read his blog in the Guardian and though I don’t read it regularly, the style of writing was interesting enough for me to pick up the book.

Bad Science is about how the media and others — like alternative medicine proponents and nutritionists — who confuse people about science and one man’s work in demystifying science and pointing out the bad science. (Science in this context also means medicine and health-related stuff.)

Goldacre’s main target is the media and he is unrelenting in his critique of the way the media has spread idiotic rumours, misunderstood research, and sometimes backed people who were clearly not proper scientists. Goldacre explains the way in which proper research tests are conducted, he sheds light on the placebo effect, he takes on nutritionists, homeopaths, and of course the media.

What comes through in Goldacre’s book is that he genuinely understands science at the fundamental level and that he cares passionately about the way it’s been obfuscated by the media. Goldacre does the dirty work of the background research and is fearless in going after people who spread misinformation.

The book is primarily written for a UK audience, so those who are not familiar with some of the stories the author refers to may find that off-putting. Sometimes, the book tends to get heavy in its discussion and at those points you’ll probably skip a few paragraphs. (I guess it’s that way with most books.)

Bad Science shows us what kind of information is being fed to us in the name of science and how we can, by learning a few simple concepts and asking a few questions, avoid being hoodwinked. The next time I see a health-related (or for that matter anything related to science) piece of news in my morning paper, I’ll know enough to at least be a wee bit skeptical.

An Infinite Summer ends (at least for me)

I just finished reading Infinite Jest (IJ), David Foster Wallace’s monumental work of fiction. Regular readers of this blog know that I am a big fan of Wallace’s work and if you read the links section — over on the sidebar — you’d have noticed several links about him or his work from time to time.

Infinite Jest is a huge book and it took me months to finish it. The sole reason for being able to finish the book was a wonderful initiative called Infinite Summer. My thanks to the guys behind the website for doing this – I really don’t know when / if I would’ve read the book. It had been sitting on my to-read pile for a few months.

I will post more about the book and about reading the book later. I just wanted to share a few preliminary thoughts.

• IJ is the longest work of literary fiction I’ve read (1000+ pages including footnotes).
• It is not the toughest work of fiction I’ve ever read. Contrary to many people’s experiences, I’ve found other novels much harder to plough through. True History of the Kelly Gang is one book that comes to mind.
• It is the most haunting book of fiction I’ve read. (And, No, it’s not a ghost story.)
• It is the most non-linear work of fiction I’ve read. The book’s structure apparently has fractal-like qualities.
• It is a book that, initially, I couldn’t wait for to get going but towards the end, I didn’t want it to end. (I have a sneaking suspicion that Wallace made the book harder to put down towards the end when you don’t want it to end. Think going down a hill on a bicycle with no brakes.)
• It is the only book that I started re-reading (the first few pages) immediately after I had finished the book. Seriously.
• It is a book that makes me want to try giving literary fiction a chance again. (I’m a notorious non-reader of all things literary.)
• It is a brilliant, earnest, and an enriching piece of fiction. Every time I read pages in the book, I was always amazed by the sheer genius of David Foster Wallace. He was truly a great one.

I don’t know how to end this post.

Gang Leader for a Day

Finding this book is one of the reasons I love browsing in bookstores. I was in the business section at Crossword and this book was hidden away behind some of the other books, at the back. Two copies. Classifying a book about drug gangs in the business section is creative but Gang Leader for a Day is more about the business (unintentional pun) of observing people, i.e. sociology.

If you read Freakonomics, you’d have heard of Sudhir Venkatesh. He’s the guy that studied drug gangs in Chicago and the chapter that deals with why drug dealers stay with their moms is based on his work.

Sudhir Venkatesh clearly has cojones. In his quest to find interview subjects, he finds himself trapped by gang members in Chicago’s Robert Taylor Homes projects. Somehow, he manages to pique the interest of J.T., the leader of the Black Kings gang.

The book is about how he gains JT’s trust, the way the gang operates, the appalling condition of the projects and the people living there, and the machinations of Ms. Bailey, the president of the building. Oh yeah, and JT makes him gang leader for a day as well.

GLFAD is a fascinating book and is like a thriller — I really could not put the book down. Though you sometimes wonder about the decisions Venkatesh takes, it is an honest look at life in the midst of poverty and drugs.

I also wonder if the field of sociology was shaken up by what Venkatesh did, the equivalent of embedded reporting in a field that typically gathered data using surveys and analyzed data using statistical models.

Brilliant book and if you look behind the shelves at Crossword, you just might find a copy.

Keith Floyd RIP

When Star TV first came to India, one of the interesting programs that used to be aired was a program called Floyd on Oz. It featured Keith Floyd, a chef, who went around the country cooking different dishes.

What I remember about his show was that he had an informal style, he’d drink wine or beer when he was cooking, and he’d cook outside the kitchen a lot. Along with Yan can Cook, Floyd’s show was one of the two shows that I really enjoyed watching. (I guess that explains my interest in watching Bourdain, Emeril, and other cooking shows now.)

What was most fun about Floyd’s show was that you always felt that he genuinely enjoyed what he was doing and it made for good TV. He had that cheerful, enthusiastic style and it was endearing.

Keith Floyd passed away on 14 September. He was 65. Coincidentally, I was watching a rerun of his show on Jaipur (Floyd on India series) the next day, without having read the news that he’d passed away. Rest in peace, Mr. Floyd.

Missing DFW a year later

Yesterday, September 12, was the 1-year-anniversary of David Foster Wallace’s death. Reading Infinite Jest this summer has only made the loss feel deeper. It’s strange to say this about someone you’ve never met or had any contact with, but it’s a feeling that most DFW fans will share – an overwhelming sense of loss.

DFW, you are still missed.