The Patna Manual of Style: Stories

Go to any party in any country on any moonlit terrace of the world the best dressed man is always the one from Patna. In these nine interlinked stories we meet the not so quintessential Patna man Hriday Thakur Literature junkie aspiring writer inveterate lover of women and rain Jishnu da his acquaintance from Delhi University who is now an importer of blondes Samuel Crown the fastidious proofreader who mentors Hriday and instils in him an irrevocable love for the art of book-making the parade of women in Hridays life: austere doe eyed Charulata love of his youth the one who got away Chitrangada his wife who works hard to be accepted in his world of books art politics and activism the beautiful Anjali Singh Nalwa ex-flame who is now a fiery controversial novelist Imogen Burns the intrepid chronicler of graveyards Sadaf Khan Abdali who loves the smell of Listerine early in the morning and Sophia Loren dream girl of many schoolboys now a mother of two. Unsentimental to a fault Siddharth Chowdhurys stories deal with relationships that are intimate and sensuous and sometimes hard to define taken together they are an affectionate nod to an idealist generation insulated in a world of publishing academia gin-soaked brunches and Marxist philosophy. Intersting FactsChronicles the life of young Hriday Thakur writer lecturer publisher ad-man and inveterate lover of women from heart break to marriage in post-liberalization India. Will appeal to upper middle-class down at heel left of centre head in the clouds movie buff. A treat for readers who have read Siddharth Chowdhurys earliers books Day Scholar Patna Roughcut and Diksha at St. Martins.