Arnab Ray - May I Hebb Your Attention Pliss

A hilarious look at India of '90's and the frustration of middle class in general - that is what the book promised.  The author's note say the only one who is going to get entertained or profited is him! He respectfully pities his readers ;) I respect him for his  frankness here... In fact he was true to it, the book was totally waste of time. Pay for the book - don't even think about it...

I got your question - why did I read that book, or write about it here. First, I didn't buy the book myself. My Dubai friend wanted to read it. As this was not available there ( the other two she wanted to read, but not available there was Revolution 2020 by Chetan Bhagat and God Save the Dork by Sidin Vadukut, I should have get the red sign there itself! Man, I am tired of the 'new-Indian / urban' writers that I am scared to pick any new authors now! ), well come back to our story, I ended up buying these for her. Incidentally I picked this one first for the prospect of going back to the memory lane as it was proposed. I should say, my life in 90's was not boring like that at all! I thankfully not watched the epic movies he referred or never been a desperate NRI student either. May be that's the reason why it didn't strike a chord with me.

Thinking about it again, it was not the book was all about. It had 'sarcastic / slap-stick / hilarious' account of today's politics, education system, movie, moral policing, terrorism and what not! Even a picture of marriage. Hhhmmm... Thank God, our Malayalee marriages are not that 'eventful' as Bengali ones.

The book did evoke a laugh or two. But the pattern was so repetitive. Very predictable. After two chapter into the book, he got nothing new to provide. He was crying for our attention. Forcing a laugh ( and fails). This book was an extension of his blog. And sadly, the style fits only blog. We can not compile the movie reviews or television guide and claim it a book...

When I told my friend that the book is boring, she told me it is a ‘must read and throw’ type of book! The one which should not be kept in our collection! That could be true. It is so hideos. But wondering how the guys at Harper Collins were convinced about this book... I mean the guys who publish Paulo Coelho....