Manxome foes

Fun evening at Shrabonti’s; Rumman is leaving for Bangalore. Topics of discussion – predictably – lit, blogging, litblogging, bloggers, litbloggers, journalists, reviews, journalist bloggers. blogging reviewers. Guest star: The Jabberwock, whose blog is ze talk of ze town. He spoke with fervour of the mixed feelings in his burbling breast when tulgy authors he’s about to interview turn on him and say ‘i read your blog. My editor gave me the link’ and he cant remember just then what it was he wrote about them or their books. I suspect, with all the attention, he’s going to go polite – his last posts certainly do nothing to indicate otherwise.

The Bagchi was doing a Harry Potter quiz online – questions were really hardcore – things like How old was Nicholas Flamel when he married? – and i realized with a sudden jolt that i didnt remember these things any more. at age 13, i think i had LOTR and most of Tolkiens other stuff by heart – but now, alas, old age has crept in, and my brain, such as it is, rejects these details and looks for big pictures. sad, that. still knew enough to qualify as mid-level fantasy geek, but real fans would have scoffed at me. The Jabberwock, of course, has not had the time to read such mass-market tripe as HP, but he smiled on us in a superior sort of way as we measured sickles to the galleon.

Cameo performance over the phone by Rana, whose book comes out Jan 14. Hes about to embark on his book tour – the two stops im aware of are 21st in cal, 28th in delhi. dont know if hes doing anything before that. assured him that the people in BCL and Crossword in Cal will invite everyone who needs to be invited, and am looking forward to his Delhi launch. Doubt he reads this blog, but if he does, good luck!