Press & Reviews
There are many virtues of Akash Kapur’s beautifully sketched portrait of modern India. The book reads like a novel. Kapur’s skill is to get people talking and to weave their stories into a necessarily messy debate about India’s future.”
— The Financial Times
[R]eadable, acutely observed and crammed with well-drawn characters… Mr Kapur offers a corrective to a simplistic “new, happy narrative” of a rising India. That is welcome and he does it well.”
—The Economist
This takes, wisely, a humble approach: instead of trying to encapsulate the entirety of India’s changes, it follows a few lives along the idiosyncratic ways they develop.”
— Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, Best Books of 2012
Kapur…is an excellent ambassador to explain the dynamic of change in India, what the nation is becoming. Any reader who would like to understand the country better would do well to give him a read.”
— The Daily Beast (a “Nonfiction Must Read”)
BBC Radio on pandemic living
BBC Radio 3: Sunday Feature, May 24 2020 BBC Radio 3 asked six writers to record a chain letter in which we talked about our experiences living–and writing–during the pandemic. I wrote and spoke about a silver lining of calm and solitude; and also about the joys of my lockdown reading, Vasily Grossman’s marvelous […]
French Media Roundup
Here’s a quick roundup of some radio and TV from the French release of India Becoming. France24 did a TV interview in French and English. Jean Lebrun did a fun interview on France Inter (some fascinating audio clips from earlier decades in India). I was also part of panel discussions on Radio France Internationale, titled “Quelle Inde pour demain?” And another panel discussion […]
NPR All Things Considered
A short written and recorded segment from National Public Radio, All Things Considered: India’s election through the prism of literature. I chose V S Naipaul’s India: A Million Mutinies Now to talk about the significance of Modi’s election. Audio clip here On Monday, Narendra Modi will be sworn in as India’s prime minister. His rise to […]
Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize Shortlist
India Becoming has been named to the shortlist for the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize. There are some excellent books on this list, and I’m honored to be on it.
More Media Roundup
India Becoming received a nice review in The Pioneer newspaper, and I enjoyed this conversation with Sebastian Cortes in The Oberoi Group Magazine. The Times of India also ran this conversation with Dr. Srijana Mitra Das. Also, a couple pieces on India Becoming in the Kochi editions of The Hindu and The Indian Express.
More Best of 2012 Books
India Becoming features on two more “Best of 2012” books. Isaac Chotiner includes it in his list for The New Republic, and Sudeep Sen in his list for The Indian Express. Meanwhile, here is my own Best of 2012 selection that ran in The Hindustan Times.
More Media Coverage
Some more media coverage of India Becoming. Tishani Doshi writes a very nice piece in The Indian Express, Businessworld runs a generous review, and The Hindu runs this interview. Also, Conde Nast Traveller (the UK edition) has this piece on Pondicherry that mentions the book.
India Becoming on NDTV
I recently had the privilege of a conversation with Sunil Sethi on Just Books, his long-running program on NDTV. The segment on India Becoming starts at about the 12th minute.
India Becoming a New Yorker “Best Books of 2012” selection
India Becoming has been included on the list of The New Yorker‘s “Best Books of 2012.” Thanks to Evan Osnos, The New Yorker‘s excellent Beijing Correspondent, for choosing the book. There are some great other books on this list, too–some of which I know, and some which I certainly intend to read.
Indian Media Roundup, Part 2
A lot to include in this second India media roundup for India Becoming. The Financial Express runs this nice review, The Indian Express does a profile/review, and Tehelka an interview.The PTI wire service also does a review/interview and The Hindu does a “Table for Two” feature (in which I announce my conversion to flexitarianism!). And finally, this photo essay feature from the online portal SIFY.
Indian Media Roundup, Part 1
A roundup of some recent media from the Indian launch of Indian Becoming. Outlook carried this generous review, and The Hindustan Times had this nice writeup. See also these two (1,2) pieces from The Hindu, these two (1, 2) from The Times of India, and this one from The Indian Express. Stay tuned for more roundups soon…
Huffington Post on India Becoming
A small but generous mention of India Becoming in The Huffington Post. Anis Shivani calls it “gorgeously written.” His essay is really about several recent non-fiction books on India. I highly recommend the others he mentions…
India Becoming excerpted in Open magazine
The Indian edition of India Becoming came out this week–with revised text and a new Epilogue–and it was excerpted in the very excellent Open magazine. Check out the Events section of this website for upcoming talks and appearances in India related to the book.
Newsweek names India Becoming a “Must-Read” on modern India
Newsweek magazine recently named India Becoming one of its three “Must-Reads on Modern India.” The other two books it named are excellent, and I highly recommend them both: Pankaj Mishra’s From the Ruins of Empire, and Aman Sethi’s A Free Man.
Danish and Italian press on India Becoming
An international roundup: two recent articles in the European press on India Becoming. One from Brief, a Danish magazine, and the other from East, in Italy. (The Italian article is also available in an–imperfectly translated–English version). Please also take a look at Carlo Pizzati’s very fine “Open Letter to India” in the article from East.