Superstar India: From Incredible to Unstoppable [Paperback]

Shobhaa De (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 2009

It all began when, viewing the breathless preparations for independent India's 60th birthday celebrations - and poised then on her own sixth decade - Shobhaa De was struck by the thought: 'Surely my life has taken the same trajectory as the country's?' In an intimate confession to her readers, she answers that question, and many more: does India really deserve to congratulate itself? Has it lived up to the early promises it made to its people? Does the author believe in India herself?Surveying the many images of the country, De points out that for every truism about India the opposite is also true: India as the land of the meek; India as inheritor of the earth; India gherao-ed by distinctly unfriendly neighbours; Indians fleeing to jobs in the West and then racing right back to a better life; and, Indians who ape their erstwhile colonizers and yet cling irrationally to tradition. In a departure from anything else she has written, Shobhaa De focuses on Indian people and their place in the larger human society, pointing out her country's historical failings and equally historical glories. De reasons that the nation has earned superstar status, and with humorous argumentativeness, she convinces the reader that India is not about to lose its glow.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Ms De shocks India, and much of its literary set like no other writer today' New York Times on Bollywood Nights 'A throbbing, pulsating novel of passion and pain, betrayal and bitterness' Indian Review on Bollywood Nights --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Obsessive-compulsive writer of fifteen books, Shobhaa De has spent the last three years in the pursuit of her first vocation, journalism. Her columns are ubiquitous, appearing in nearly every newspaper and magazine of note. They carry her customarily edgy observations on matters of politics, the economy, business and commerce, the heart and the hearth. Best-selling author, jet-setting commentator and honest critic, she is most at home in Mumbai - a city which is also a recurrent 'character' in much of her work - living there with her husband Dilip and (when they're around) their six children. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 456 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Global (August 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0143102583
• ISBN-13: 978-0143102588
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,879,764 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars India shining!, June 20, 2008

By 

Elizabeth Thottan "Liz Thottan" (chennai, india) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Superstar India (Hardcover)

"India shining", "India is the next Super power", "The world is threatened by us", Reality or Make believe?

In her latest book - superstar India - from incredible to unstoppable, shobaa de gives us an insight to an agreeable reality check on Is India actually shining? The answer to that question is both Yes and No.

Celebrating 60 years of independence coupled with her sixtieth Birthday the author takes us through an array of sex and its preferences, the power of money, attitude, marriage, Bollywood, our need for superheroes to cling to....and much more , the book is an easy read, well researched, humorous and at the same time thought provoking.

Hypocrisy, Greed, chalta-hai(let go) attitude. Where is the quality of life in today's India? Yet this country has what it takes to be a superstar. Relocating back to India from the western world is on a rise, but is it because the quality of life is better here? No. It is the moolah which attracts many of them back to their roots.

Throwing light on various aspects that panned over the last 60 years, comparing it with the `then' and the `now' Ms De has touched on the pulse of what makes India the much talked about country the world over. Talking out of her personal experience of raising five children she puts herself as a protagonist to bring various messages across to the reader.

Her passion and love for her country is undeniable. Simplicity of the language makes it even more pleasurable to read.

Yet another masterpiece from one of India's best authors.