potpurri

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The biggest event on CM was the publishing of “Where the Wild Frontiers Are: Pakistan and the American Imagination – “a curated, edited collection” of sepoy’s posts in book form, with foreword from Amitava Kumar, launched with much fanfare, and earning rave reviews (here, here). Meanwhile, commentaries and reflections on happenings in Homistan continued to grace CM: [...]

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I like to think I wrote a fair amount this year – maybe not as much as last year but still, a fair amount. But I also have a bunch of posts stuck in the “Draft” view. Gonna delete them, but here are the snippets for what-might-have-beens. Objects Yesterday, I went to see Schätzes des [...]

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Screedery

by lapata on October 23, 2011 · 2 comments

in potpurri

I have a review of Granta’s ten years post-9/11 issue up on The Sunday Guardian (New Delhi). When I first wrote my draft, I sent it to Sepoy, because I was worried it was too much of a screed. Sepoy, upon reading it, was disappointed in the lack of screedishness of the review. He had [...]

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I have a new piece up at Caravan on Yashpal’s great Partition novel, Jhootha Sach. It’s very nicely reproduced, though I seem to have missed the weird new title during the editing process (“Night Smudged Light”). My title, “Late for the Party,” must have seemed too cavalier. Here’s an excerpt: Jhootha Sach, first published in [...]

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When and if fascism comes to America it will not be labeled “made in Germany”; it will not be marked with a swastika; it will not even be called fascism;it will be called, of course, “Americanism.”  Halford E. Luccock, Keeping Life Out of Confusion Before Times were good for many Americans—or, at least, times were good [...]

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  Click on Page 1 to read the diary from the beginning Page the Fourth—In which one-half of the face of metropolitan evil is presented to Jassasa who makes small talk and a funny discovery AS I WAS led up the narrow staircase and into the presence of the gang leader, I was already working out [...]

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  Click on Page 1 to read the diary from the beginning Page the Third—In which Jassasa learns the truth about the infamous Dajjal Island and the circumstances of his landing at Keemari Jetty A VAGUE ANXIETY took hold of me as I steered my vessel toward the source of light which was now blinking [...]

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Click on Page 1 to read the diary from the beginning Page the Second—In which is revealed how Jassasa started in search of the designated land aboard a steamer furnished by Providence NO SOONER DID I inform Master about the End of Time thing than he turned upon me with an I knew it! They [...]

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The Goat-Spy Diaries

by Jassasa on July 31, 2011 · 1 comment

in potpurri

  Being the private papers of Jassasa, the goat-spy of the true False Messiah, the End-of-Times Deceiver, the One-Eyed Antichrist aka Dajjal Page the 1st—In which is revealed how Dajjal and Jassasa were alerted to the approach of the End of Time OKAY, SO NOW it’s confirmed: Evil’s really risen in the world. This morning [...]

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Political Animal

by lapata on April 9, 2011 · 2 comments

in potpurri

My new show, Political Animal, opens in White River Junction, VT, at the Main Street Museum this Friday, April 15th, 5-7 PM. Here is a sneak preview of what will be exhibited, for those of you who, ahem, might not be in the neighborhood. First, the Inqilab series: Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR. And second, my [...]

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Our hardworking judge, the illustrious Kuzhali Manickavel, has pored long and hard over all the submissions for our flash fiction contest. She has selected one first place winner, and two entries are tied for second place. She found the decision very difficult and hopes that everyone enjoys the results. In first place, we have a [...]

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Teju Cole’s Open City

by lapata on February 7, 2011 · 3 comments

in potpurri

I also have a review out today on Bookslut of long-time CM reader Teju Cole‘s superb new novel Open City. The novel comes out tomorrow. Everyone must read it! An excerpt from my review: The review materials I received with Open City ask me to compare Cole’s writing to that of W.G. Sebald or J.M. [...]

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The Blaftness of Blaft

by lapata on February 7, 2011 · 1 comment

in potpurri

Following my interviews with Blafters Rakesh Khanna, Pritham K. Chakravarthy and Kuzhali Manickavel, my review of a number of books from the Chennai-based publishing house Blaft is up on Bookslut today. Here is an excerpt: He was a dark man, with white hair and white teeth. A thick moustache covered his dark lips. His chin [...]

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This 6th year of CM will go down in the annals of Chapatism, first and foremost, as a year of the renaissance sprung by Lapata’s posts – for which readers have the bureaucratic morass of academy, “the insane rants of an inflamed tea-partier”, and Sepoy’s badgering to thank – illuminating the particularities of partition or [...]

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Getting to Know You

by lapata on October 4, 2010 · 12 comments

in potpurri

My new column, a review of Granta 112 (“the Pakistan issue”) is up on Bookslut. Here’s an excerpt: Green is the theme color in the Shahzads’ bedroom. The curtains pick up the tone of the bed linens, and a bamboo print hung between the windows extends the botanical motif. “There was nothing out of the [...]

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Literary Travelers

by lapata on September 7, 2010 · 5 comments

in potpurri

I have a new column at Bookslut. The title of my column comes to you courtesy of Sepoy. Here’s the link. The column is meant to introduce readers to South Asian literature beyond the Barnes and Noble display tables. The first installment is a review of India: A Traveler’s Literary Companion, edited by Chandrahas Choudhury. [...]

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Little Green Men

by lapata on September 2, 2010 · 4 comments

in imperial watch,potpurri

Tennessee resident Gary Middleton worries that the mosque could house extremists. “It’s just another mosque, training kids to be terrorist,” he said. Stan Whiteway also objects to a new mosque for local Muslims. “I’m sorry, but they seem to be against everything that I believe in. So I don’t want them necessarily in my neighborhood,” [...]

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Go buy this book now

by lapata on August 2, 2010 · 1 comment

in potpurri

In February, I posted a review of Amitava Kumar’s novel Home Products. That self-same book, with minor revisions, is now out from Duke University Press under the title Nobody Does the Right Thing. Below is an excerpt from the review; to read the whole thing, click here. This past week, some years after hearing Amitava [...]

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