A Writer's Nightmare

Essays discuss weddings, mathematics, coffee, umbrellas, teachers, newspapers, architecture, the caste system, and India

"These days everyone feels the right to comment on any subject not necessarily concerning them," notes Narayan. "I have written all the following essays because I had to." Originally published in the Hindu , an Indian weekly newspaper, these brief, conversational reflections range in topic from coffee ("For a South Indian, of all worries the least tolerable is coffee worry") to the curse of the British presence in colonial India, to the mess made of Narayan's novel, The Guide , by a gang of American moviemakers. The collection ranges equally in accomplishment: though witty and knowing, Narayan sometimes natters on, perhaps hindered, as a novelist, by the inherent limits posed by fact in journalistic form. Seemingly filling space, he comments, "A little gardening goes a long way" and "I remember I was very proud of being a scout." But when compelled to write by some more pressing need than deadline, the novelist produces a perceptive portrait of Indira Gandhi and a spirited tribute to the monkey.
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