{"product_id":"the-writerly-life-selected-non-fiction","title":"The Writerly Life - Selected Non-fiction","description":"\u003cp\u003eAuthor: R K Narayan\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Penguin\/Viking\u003cbr\u003eYear: 2001\u003cbr\u003eLanguage: English\u003cbr\u003ePages: 517\u003cbr\u003eISBN\/UPC (if available): 067004900X\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e Description\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese writings provide a fascinating glimpse into the private world of one of the most gifted writers of our time, and reveal the ways in which Narayan was able to convert the small and ordinary things of everyday life into memorable literary anecdotes. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen R K Narayan passed away at the age of ninety-four, tributes poured in from fans and admirers, celebrating the art of this master storyteller who has often been described as India’s greatest English language writer. Narayan is better known for his novels set in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi, but his essays are as delightful and enchanting as nay of his novels. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis collection begins with the short essays which Narayan wrote  as a weekly contribution to the Hindu, the subjects of which are as diverse as umbrellas, weddings, monkeys, South Indian coffee, films, the black market, old age, the caste system, gardening and Vayudoot.  The later, longer essays dwell on the cultural ambiguities that persist in our nation: Narayan’s description of the linguistic confusion between the North and the South with the advent of national television is reminiscent of the misunderstood messages in his famous story “A Horse and Two Goats’. The highlight of this section is a scathingly funny essay on the making of the film The Guide, a project that distorted Narayan’s narrative beyond recognition. In a separate section on the world of the writer, Narayan describes the predicament of writing in English in India – an art which he pioneered – and the pitfalls of being considered for the Nobel Prize in Literature – which he never got. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis volume also includes the complete text of My Dateless Diary, Narayan’s jottings about his travels in America when he was in the process of writing The Guide.  As journeys across the vast continent on a diet of rice and yogurt and without the aid of an alarm clock, Narayan recounts a myriad memorable moments, from his encounter with the mysterious Greta Garbo to the evening fathering where he is hailed as one of the three greatest living authors in the world. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTaken together, these writings provide a fascinating glimpse into the private world of one of the most gifted writers of our time, and reveal the ways in which Narayan was able to convert the small and ordinary things of everyday life into memorable literary anecdotes. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTHE EDITOR: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eS KRISHNAN taught English literature at Madras Christian College and at Annamalai University.  He spent many years with the United States Information Agency in their educational and cultural programmers.  He is a consulting editor with the Indian Review of Books and a senior editor of Shruti, a music and dance magazine. Krishnan has edited several volumes of R K Narayan’s writings.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eContents\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePublisher's Note\r\n\r\nForeword\r\n\r\nSHORT ESSAYS I\r\n\r\nNext Sunday \r\nThe Crowd\r\nOur Dress\r\nNoise\r\nCoffee\r\nThe Winged Ants\r\nBehind One Another\r\nRestaurants\r\nThe Cat\r\nCauserie\r\nAllergy\r\nHorses and Others\r\nThe Vandal\r\nThe No-Musical Man\r\nOn Humour\r\nThe Scout\r\nGardening without Tears\r\nThe Great Basket\r\nOf Trains and Travellers\r\nUmbrella Devotee\r\nThe Sycophant\r\nThe Maha\r\nHeadache\r\nThe Critical Faculty\r\nBeauty and the Beast\r\nMemory\r\nA Writer's Nightmare\r\n\r\nMY DATELESS DIARY\r\n\r\nNew York Days\r\nThrough The Mid-West\r\nChicago\r\nWestward Bound\r\nLos Angeles\r\nGrand Canyon and Beyond\r\nGurukula in Tennessee\r\nWashington DC and Onward\r\nNew York\r\n\r\nSHORT ESSAYS II\r\n\r\nToasted English\r\nHigher Mathematics\r\nTaxing Thoughts\r\nEverest Reactions\r\nRice and Hospitality\r\nReception at Six\r\nBridegroom Bargains\r\nThe Election Game\r\nThe Unseen Shop\r\nOn Films\r\nStreet Names\r\nRed-taping Culture\r\nFamily Doctor\r\nCoffee Worries\r\nFifteen Years\r\nTo a Hindi Enthusiast\r\nCuriosity\r\nRambles in a Library\r\nAt an Auctioneer's\r\nPride of Place\r\nHouses, Houses\r\nCastes: Old and New\r\nThe Newspaper Habit\r\nThe Postcard\r\nThe Lost\r\nUmbrella\r\nLooking One's Age\r\nA Picture of Years\r\n\r\nLATER ESSAYS\r\n\r\nIndia and America\r\nMy Educational Outlook\r\nCrowded Day\r\nTeaching In Texas\r\nOn Funny Encounters\r\nThe Testament of a Walker\r\nA Matter of Statues\r\nHistory is a Delicate Subject\r\nSorry, No Room\r\nJunk\r\nOf Age\r\nPickpockets\r\nMonkeys\r\nGod and the Atheist\r\nOn Ved Mehta\r\nIn the Philippines\r\nIndira Gandhi\r\nCruelty to Children\r\nTable Talk\r\nPermitted Laughter\r\nVayudoot\r\nOn Walking\r\nThe Enemies\r\n\r\nTHE WORLD OF THE WRITER\r\n\r\nReluctant Guru\r\nThe Problem of the Indian Writer \r\nEnglish in India\r\nWhen India was a Colony\r\nAfter the Raj\r\nIn the Confessional\r\nMisguided Guide\r\nA Literary Alchemy\r\nReflections On Frankfurt\r\nLove and Lovers\r\nThe Nobel Prize and All That\r\nThe Writerly Life\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The India Club","offers":[{"title":"R K Narayan \/ Penguin\/Viking \/ Hardcover","offer_id":68153502138736,"sku":"8233","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1041\/5203\/9792\/files\/8233.jpg?v=1793910515","url":"https:\/\/marketcalvexa.shop\/products\/the-writerly-life-selected-non-fiction","provider":"Alderstone House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}