It intrigues. It entices. The title of this collection of essays, interviews and musings turns out to be both metaphorical and literal. It resonates with a magical realist ring not entirely belied by the contents.
Nothing less is to be expected from Nilanjana Roy. Book-lover extraordinary, she has ranged comfortably over the domains of journalist, reviewer, essayist, blogger and novelist with passion and ease. Her enduring fascination with all things literary and her visceral engagement with the world of books emerge vividly from everything she writes. The blurb promises to revisit the best of her occasional pieces, weaving them together with a set of new personal essays. Most of the pieces appear to have been written over the last 18 years or so and several are understandably circumscribed by the tyranny of the deadline and the word limit.
As a result, the book is inevitably a mixed bag. Dividing it into seven sections, each with its own theme, has imposed some sort of order. Of these, the most straightforward are the sections devoted to...
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