Tag Archives: Non Fiction

In My Hands Today…

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The Wreckage of My Presence – Casey Wilson

Casey Wilson has a lot on her mind and she isn’t afraid to share. In this dazzling collection of essays, skillfully constructed and brimming with emotion, she shares her thoughts on the joys and vagaries of modern-day womanhood and motherhood, introduces the not-quite-typical family that made her who she is, and persuasively argues that lowbrow pop culture is the perfect lens through which to understand human nature.

Whether she’s extolling the virtues of eating in bed, processing the humiliation over her father’s late in life perm, or exploring her pathological need to be liked, Casey is witty, candid, and full of poignant and funny surprises. Humorous dives into her obsessions and areas of personal expertise—Scientology and self-help, nice guys, reality television shows—are matched by touching meditations on female friendship, grief, motherhood, and identity.

Reading The Wreckage of My Presence is like spending time with a close friend—a deeply passionate, full-tilt, joyous, excessive, compulsive, shameless, hungry-for-it-all, loyal, cheerleading friend. A friend who is ready for any big feeling that comes her way and isn’t afraid to embrace it.

In My Hands Today…

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Birds, Beasts and Bandits: 14 Days with Veerappan – Krupakar, Senani

In a comic case of mistaken identity; wildlife photographers Krupakar and Senani were kidnapped one night from their home at the edge of the Bandipur National Park by Veerappan; India’s ‘most dreaded bandit’. He thought they were important government officials; and his plan was to hold them hostage in return for clemency and a substantial ransom.

The bandit and his gang kept the hostages on the move in the forest; and their only contact with the outside world was via an old transistor radio. While Veerappan;who had already killed some 250 people; formulated strategies to force the government to agree to his demands; his hostages not only got a close look at the plant and animal diversity in the forests of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu; but the intimacy of their life on the run gave them an insight into Veerappan’s strange mix of cruelty and humanity. Though Krupakar and Senani came from a world that was completely different from that of Veerappan’s gang; the kidnapped and the kidnappers became closely involved in each other’s concerns. Birds; Beasts and Bandits is a witty and poignant account of an extraordinary adventure with the notorious poacher and his companions.

In My Hands Today…

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My Father Baliah – Y.B. Satyanarayana

The extraordinary story of a Dalit family in southern India

Poised to inherit a huge tract of land gifted by the nizam to his father, twenty-one-year-old Narsiah loses it to a feudal lord. This triggers his migration from Vangapalli, his ancestral village in the Karimnagar district of Telangana – the single most important event that would free his family and future generations from caste oppression. Years later, it saves his son Baliah from the fate that was his forefathers’: a life of humiliation and bonded labour.

A book written with the desire to make known the inhumanity of untouchability and the acquiescence and internalization of this condition by the Dalits themselves, Y.B. Satyanarayana chronicles the relentless struggle of three generations of his family in this biography of his father. A narrative that derives its strength from the simplicity with which it is told, My Father Baliah is a story of great hardship and greater resilience.

In My Hands Today…

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Bihar Diaries – Amit Lodha

Bihar Diaries narrates the thrilling account of how Amit Lodha arrested Vijay Samrat, one of Bihar’s most feared ganglords, notorious for extortion, kidnapping and the massacre of scores of people. The book follows the adrenaline-fuelled chase that took place across three states during Amit’s tenure as superintendent of police of Shekhpura, a sleepy mofussil town in Bihar.

How does Amit navigate between his many professional challenges and conquer his demons? What does he do when the ganglord comes after his family? Bihar Diaries captures vividly the battle of nerves between a dreaded outlaw and a young, urbane IPS officer.

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Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere – Maria Bamford

Maria Bamford is a comedian’s comedian (an outsider among outsiders) and has forever fought to find a place to belong. From struggling with an eating disorder as a child of the 1980s, to navigating a career in the arts (and medical debt and psychiatric institutionalization), she has tried just about every method possible to not only be a part of the world, but to want to be a part of it.

In Bamford’s signature voice, Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult, brings us on a quest to participate in something. With sincerity and transparency, she recounts every anonymous fellowship she has joined (including but not limited Debtors Anonymous, Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous, and Overeaters Anonymous), every hypomanic episode (from worrying about selling out under capitalism to enforcing union rules on her Netflix TV show set to protect her health), and every easy 1-to-3-step recipe for fudge in between.

Singular and inimitable, Bamford’s memoir explores what it means to keep going, and to be a member of society (or any group she’s invited to) despite not being very good at it. In turn, she hopes to transform isolating experiences into comedy that will make you feel less alone (without turning into a cult following).