122 july 2019
ME & MY SHELF
Sandip Roy is a lapsed software
engineer turned writer. His debut
novel, Don’t Let Him Know, was
longlisted for the 2016 DSC Prize
for South Asian Literature. A
long-time radio commentator
in the US, he hosts The Sandip
Roy Show on Audio Express, is
a columnist for Mint Lounge and
The Hindu and has written for
various anthologies.The Shadow Lines
BY AMITAV GHOSH,Penguin India, ` 350.
This was the first time I saw my
neighbourhood and life reflected in
English fiction, and so vividly. It had a
lot to do with making it seem possible
that I too could write, that my
experiences count.My Family and
Other Animals
BY GERALD DURRELL,
Puffin, `560. My father
got me this book, and
the lush descriptions
of Corfu, the humour,
the animals, all had
me hooked. I sought out all his other
books—my first for any writer. He
visited our school and I got my first
author autograph.Tales of the City
BY ARMISTEAD MAUPIN, Black Swan,
`550. San Francisco is a city I dreamt
up through the exuberant colourful
characters in this series. It’s no accident
I ended up living there for two decades.
It was a book that made me fall in love
with a city I’d never seen.Funny Boy
BY SHYAM SELVADURAI,Penguin India,
`350. I remember thinking I wish I
had written it, though Sri Lanka during
the civil war was far removed from my
world. Selvadurai’s empathetic voice,
his keen eye and the way he handled
sexuality remains pioneering. photo courtesy: sANDIproy