Mistry's "A Fine Balance"

Mining the subjunctive here, always avoid cliches like the plague - and flee Oprah's quotidian soap opera recommends quickly.

However, I've been proven wrong...yet again. It has been a pleasant shock to read this Oprah-nominated book. Thanks Joan, for these two months just marinating myself in Mistry's magical and incisive prose. He's right up there with Rushdie and Roy as great Indian writers, as evidenced by his votes for the Booker Prize.

Coincidentally, we just watched the movie "Outsourced." Much less sanguine than our book but conveys some of the same Hobbesian messages about the harshness of most existence in India - and much of the world. Highly recommend it. We're so fortunate in America to have cheap beer, plenty of toilet paper and flushing toilets, and a warm Methodist clubhouse to discuss great literature in.

Merry Christmas to the entire claven
Leon