The Tales Pensieve

Part of Debut Indian Writers Challenge 2013, South Asian Challenge 2013 and Reading Challenge 2013: First Reads

A book all the way from The United States of America. Quite literally! This one took four weeks to reach me, is published by an American publication house based in New Jersey and written by an Indian based these too. At 133 pages, if anything, this one is a quick read and quite light on the head too.

Arty Facts is the story, of a few months, of this middle class Indian girl in the national capital – New Delhi. From the Nawabi city of Lucknow, she is just another 21st century girl who believes that she is made for higher things, II tier city Lucknow is too cramped for her, Delhi is where she will find freedom from her middle class existence and that she is a bitching expert. And this book is her bitching manual. We begin with the protagonist on a job search in Delhi, leading a even more cramped existence in a paying guest facility, being extremely lazy & laxed, threatened every now and then by her mother that if she did not sock up then she will be bundled back to Lucknow, finding solace in bitching about one of her roommates and finding solidarity with the other one.

A reference by a friend lands her with an interview with one of the most popular art galleries in the city and eventually the job too. And now, the action begins. Exhibitions, parties, art dealings, an eccentric gay boss, his numerous vulnerable boyfriends, his trophy mama & her Barbie dog, shady deals and a sucking up colleague. The scene is set for bucket loads of bitching and happens it does, with some gyaan nuggets coming our way too.

Ankita Kapoor as the acknowledgement page indicates has written a story that is real life inspired and she does keep it real. There is hardly any fiction-like drama and it is a roller coaster through out. Very much life-like. The narration is pace laced and tight, the language good (inspite of a few typos) and overall a hassle free book. Light, easy and breezy.

On the flipside, it is a debut and it does read like one. The writing is amateurish at the start but improves as we move along. Recommended not to dig in expecting a great storyline or narrative twists because there aren’t any. It is a simple rant story about a urban girl in a big city and does justice to what it started out as – The Bitching Manual. And that about it.

A light read that should make a weekend or a ride flip by, hassle-less.

Title: Arty Facts
Author: Ankita Kapoor
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Pages: 133
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 2.75 of 5
Reviewed for: Author

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Best price iRecommend Arty Facts from Amazon.in