In case you missed it in hardcover, Maximum City will be out in paperback next Tuesday.
I will spare you my opinion of the book since Suketu Mehta appears to be Sepia regular, but just for those who can’t get enough, the Columbia Journalism Review runs a highly entertaining interview with Mehta in next month’s issue.
His interviewing technique:
I was writing as I was speaking to these people. IÂ’d bring out my laptop.. one of their hit men might say, ‘You know, we had a job to kill somebody for their laptop last week.Â’ And IÂ’d say, ‘Yes, IÂ’m aware of that” …. I noticed this subliminal thing started happening where as they spoke, I was literally typing. My fingers were dancing, and they would look at me and pick up these cues from when IÂ’m typing or not. Now, in India the problem isnÂ’t getting people to talk, itÂ’s getting them to shut up or to stick to the topic. And I didnÂ’t have to tell them to stick to the topic, but..when they wandered off into a tangent IÂ’d still be nodding, but my fingers werenÂ’t dancing. And so they would, without my ever having to say anything to them, come back to the topic that I was interested in…
Writing as self-actualization:
Each chapter was a journey into myself, into my weaknesses and my strengths. And I asked myself, Why was I attracted to these tough boys? And itÂ’s because in school I was a weedy kid, and I always looked up to the tough boys. The short and the smart sat at the front of the class….in the back were the people who had failed the grade and were taking it again or the really tall kids and we called them the LLBs — the Lords of the Last Bench. And I always looked up to these guys. These were the ones who were good at cricket, could get the girls. And here they were — they were grown up, and they were my protectors.
Even a hitman’s got a conscience:
I remember one of the hit men saying, ‘It used to happen that after I killed, the soul of the man I kill will come and sit on my chest. But then a Muslim gangster taught me to sleep in a fetal position with my back to the door, so the soul doesn’t have access to my chest so I can sleep peacefully.’ Each one of them had different rationalizations, including the police.
Trying to define non-fiction:
They knew I was writing a book…They knew about newspapers, they knew about movies; writing a book was — they struggled to understand, some of them. TheyÂ’d say, ‘Oh, does that mean itÂ’s like a Ph.D. thesis?Â’ and IÂ’d say, ‘Well, no, itÂ’s a book,Â’ and theyÂ’d say, ‘Well, is it a novel?Â’ …And IÂ’d just say, ‘No, itÂ’s like a magazine, only the size of a book, and everything is true.Â’ TheyÂ’d give up.
Indian politcs:
I was really afraid of the Shiv Sena…Sanjay Nirupam used to be the Shiv Sena pit bull in the upper house. He got up in Parliament, and holding a copy of my book made a long speech about why outsiders should be prevented from entering Bombay, and started reading off statistics from my book to prove his point. And then the Congress Party MP gets up and says, ‘But the very next chapter of that same book has a direct attack on your party and its role in the riots,Â’ and he says, ‘I need not agree with everything that Mehta says.Â’ So a vigorous debate ensues and then this inimitable Indian statement — ‘I will only agree with the facts that suit me.Â’ What are you going to say after that?
Also discussed: How Joni Mitchell inspired the book, why Naipaul is fascinating, and the dismal state of fiction publishing post 9/11- “the dramatic value of the real seems to have overwhelmed our capacity to invent new things.” To name but a few. Great interview.
i am sure he googles himself every hour as all self involved desi’s do.
look at his website and see how proud he is of everyone writing about him.
Gujjuguy says:
Um, promoting his book is his day job. First time I’ve ever heard a Gujju guy dis someone for business skills.
if self-obession were only a desi thing, the only word for it would be in hindi/telugu/assamese/ect
Very interesting. I only know one hard-core writer (not me, I only have 1 pathetic post on me blog) and SOMEHOW he writes soooo beautifully but he barely knows himself at all, especially when you add other people into the picture. He’s fine alone, but the equation of him + girl = mass paranoia and delusions. I think when he writes he just gets even more delusional about any given situation. According to Suketu’s method of writing, my friend would have the peace and calm of a buddhist monk by now.
I guess it’s different for everyone. I just found that interesting. Haven’t read this book yet…. But, he collobarated on the movie Mission Kashmir, so I’m not too interested, unless someone I respect insists on it.
ps. I don’t like all the bullshit steps (basic needs, blah blah blah) it takes to get to the point of self-actualization. It doesn’t make any sense. Cute term, tho.
maybe you are already there?
hey ang, it was vikram chandra who collaborated on mission kashmir, not suketu mehta. i’ve not seen the film, but chandra is an amazing writer. his novel “red earth and pouring rain” is pretty good though overlong/overwrought. but his story collection, “love and longing in bombay,” is simply extraordinary. blee’ dat! this has been discussed here before, i’m too lazy to search 🙂
as for max city, i started but could not finish it. after a while you kind of got the idea. i ended up skimming. it’s a long book, too long by about 1/3 if i were editing. i also found myself wishing he’d taken all this great material and turned it into a novel instead. take liberties with it. and cut out the stuff that doesn’t really compel attention. that’s the freedom (and challenge!) of fiction…
still, i give him props. a good book, and a real labor of love. respect!
peace
Thanks for the correction Siddhartha (is it okay if I call you Sid?), as well as for the review. All these books about India make me want to visit rather than read. I’ll risk running into gangsters.
ha ha ha. Probably not.
Aside: Vikram Chandra’s sister Tanuja Chandra is a film-director in Bombay.
Sorry, Siddhartha, according to Suketu Mehta’s website, he co-wrote Mission Kashmir.
http://www.suketumehta.com/about.html
By the way, does it strike anyone else that 4 pics on this page are 3 too many?
Both Mehta and Chandra worked on the MK script.
wow, i stand corrected! that’s some serious literary firepower. was the movie any good?
Haven’t seen it, but that ‘Bhumbro’ song sure is catchy 😉
I’ve seen the movie and it was my first and last exposure to Hrithik Roshan. My little cousins have a crush on him so I wa forced to, alright?!! I don’t really watch bollywood films, so I lost interest after the first 2 hours of senseless bombing. I think it had something to do with a boy who grows up to be a terrorist b/c his parents were killed in front of him? It wasn’t an indie film, if that’s what you expected from a serious writer – more blockbuster type. I can’t really say if it’s good or bad relative to most bollywood movies, so discount my opinion entirely.
It’s surprisingly decent. A few plot-holes, but overall it’s quite fair. Worth seeing, but not worth buying…
I thought it was toilet. And the frikking ‘special effects’ did my head in. The director must’ve just watched the Matrix and figured “YEAH! I’ll rip them off wholesale! But I’ll do it on the cheap cos I’m so smart!”
Punjabi Boy, our blog, our blog is calling From glen to glen, and down the mountain side The summer’s gone, and all the flowers are dying ’tis you, ’tis you must go and I must bide.
But come you back when summer’s in the meadow Or when the valley’s hushed and white with snow ’tis I’ll be there in sunshine or in shadow Punjabi Boy, Punjabi Boy, I love you so.
And if you come, when all the flowers are dying And I am dead, as dead I well may be You’ll come and find the place where I am lying And kneel and say an “Ave” there for me.
And I shall hear, tho’ soft you tread above me And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be If you’ll not fail to tell me that you love me I simply sleep in peace until you come to me.
Bongsy- I’ll give you that the ending fight scene was bollocks. But keep in mind I’m a straight woman, and a dancer– so most Hrithik movies are given special exemption from standards like story and stuff… so long as I get a good dance and don’t have to look at the scary thumb
Looks like there has been a falling out between Vidhu Vinod Chopra(Writer/Director of MK) and Suketu Mehta after Maximum City.
Mehta discusses VVR’s hissy fit out in the story Cicatrix linked.
was the title of the post a reference to the dj shadow album?
For the unformation of people who aren’t in India or Mumbai:
The dance bars are no more.
The Chopra guy claims that Suketu Mehta spiced up his life.
Sanjay Nirupam, the Shiv Sena politican named above is now with the Congress Party.
I loved the book. It will remain the best guide to the character of the city during the 1990s. Probably the decade when the city called Bombay peaked.
nice catch 😉 Yes the one with Dan the Automator.