Confess Away — Til You Get a Book Deal

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Via a tipster, the Telegraph (UK) has something on The Compulsive Confessor, a Bombay-based blogger:

In breezy postings, the 25-year-old girl-about-town – India’s answer to Bridget Jones – told thousands of readers of her partying, smoking and binge drinking, along with candid musings about sexual techniques and escapades. Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan writes her Sex and the City-style blog under the pseudonym “EM”, aware that although her material would not seem outrageous to a British audience, in India sex remains a taboo and anti-obscenity laws are strict. (link)

This particular article tries to play up the salacious content of the blog, and seems hell-bent on finding “controversy,” though this angle falls a little flat at certain moments:

Madhavan, a Delhi-born writer for a news magazine, Outlook, launched The Compulsive Confessor during a dull day at the office in 2004.

While her critics grow daily more scandalised, her thousands of fans believe she is changing the face of modern Indian womanhood. Her blog is among the most popular in India, receiving 400-500 hits a day, although only two per cent of India’s 1.1 billion population have internet access. (link)

(I would make a comment about how “400-500 hits a day” is actually not a lot of hits, but I’m sure that number has spiked since this profile appeared.)

The most interesting part of the article, of course, is in the concluding paragraphs, where it’s revealed that The Compulsive Confessor now has a book deal with Penguin India:

Unsurprisingly perhaps, the publisher Penguin India has commissioned Madhavan to write a semi-autobiographical novel, hoping she will rival the success of Candace Bushnell, the American author of Sex and the City, in giving voice to a new generation.

Meanwhile, Madhavan is apprehensive that news of her real identity will spread even further when the book is published, making it harder to be frank in her internet journal. “It will be harder to write when you’re no longer anonymous,” she said. (link)

Hm, she’s worried about news of her identity spreading after her book’s published? What about when she’s profiled by a major British newspaper, where the reporter uses her real name?

(Note: I hope this isn’t one of those situations where the reporter used Madhavan’s name against her wishes, thereby outing her… Something about this profile doesn’t quite smell right…)

Take a look at The Compulsive Confessor; what do you think? Is she the next Shobha De? Or merely the next Amy Sohn?

264 thoughts on “Confess Away — Til You Get a Book Deal”

  1. I’m a Sex and the City addict, but these postings just didn’t do it for me. The charm of ‘Bridget’ and ‘Sex’ is that they are able to capture a town, a city, a culture. The postings left so much to be explored. Take for example, her relationship status post. Isn’t the fact that this woman could only effectively inform her social network about her new relationship via facebook more important than her updating her status with a little heart? She needs to leverage her fodder, if you ask me. But that’s just my two cents.

  2. Ofcourse, the burning question is whether EM will fall back on terrible puns passing for feminine insight in her novel.

  4. “Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan”

    d00d is she of Telugu ancestry?

    I hate SatC. I hate all the comparisons to SatC. This seems similar enough though– something that most Indian women simply don’t have the money to relate to.

  5. The entire world is becoming filled people who talk and live life exactly the same way.

    Boring.

  7. I know her somewhat, and she is an awesome girl. It’s a myth that her blog is anonymous – it might have been that way when she started it, but by now most people know her real life identity, so I have no idea what she is worried about. That profile in the Telegraph seems a bit, dare i say it, “self-commissioned”. She writes fine, and has interesting stories, but a “semi-autobiographical novel” is too much. It seems a bit odd for a 25 year old girl (public info, from her blog) to be full of the kind of angst that the characters in SATC/Bridget Jones have – frankly speaking, I just find it amusing when she frets about being single and all that.

  8. Nothing special. Tucker Max-ian blather with the same blatant attention getting style. The only thing she’s worried about is when her book/blog will catch the eyes of the moral police. Then its on to the riots, protests, book burnings and then its hello bestseller.

  9. I vote Amy Sohn. I don’t even think it’s as funny as Tucker Max, although it is similarly long-winded. The posts are fine, but don’t really stand out to me. That said, neither do 90% of SatC episodes, so maybe I’m the wrong demographic 🙂

  11. I could barely make it past her “about me” section, even though half (only half) of it describes me:

    Okay, here goes: twenty-something, single, female, writer, with large groups of friends and who goes out for drinks pretty regularly. That’s my life and that’s what I write about. Okay? Okay.

    I find it boring too, but clearly lots of people read and comment. So, good for her.

  12. *yawn*

    Yawn indeed. And so was S&TC. Though it would be interesting to find out a few months down if her two minutes of fame change the situation from one of the behavior driving the blog to the blog driving the behavior.

  13. That was really boring. I couldn’t spend more than 10 minutes or so going through that blog.

  14. unless her book has stunning revelations about murli manohar joshi’s syphilitic saffron balls, i’ll take cutler’s washingtonienne any day.

    meenakshi’s blahg is as inane as carrie’s confessions to her trusty mac, and i hope that her navel doesn’t wither away under all this compulsive gazing.

    p.s: she seems to be on the culture beat for outlook. i read an article she wrote about ganesha idols and they are serviceable.

  16. I don’t doubt that she could write well. If you go through her archives, you might notice that too. But unfortunately (or at least so it appears to me) she writes about sex and alcohol and men and feminism not because she really has something to say, but merely because it fits with the image she’s created for herself. She seems to pick a topic only because it is controversial or scandalous (and therefore, might translate into 45 comments). But because she has a good grasp of the English language, because she knows how to be funny, she initially got away with what was just repetition. Sure, she probably gets 400 hits a day. But if those readers are merely people who visit her blog for their daily cheap thrill then eM should perhaps re-think her writing strategy.

  17. I agree with the general consensus. It all sounds a bit too produced … like she’s watched one too many episodes of SATC and has Carrie fever. Don’t get me wrong- love the show. But this formula is tired over here in the States and, frankly, I’m underwhelmed.

  18. daily cheap thrill then eM should perhaps re-think her writing strategy.

    cheap thrills should not be run down. they are cheap and they give you a weak voyeuristic buzz. that’s worth the 5 minutes it takes to scan through her posts. I would hate, though, to be a 1-2 drink (per day) average that long after college.

  19. you people need to get out and get your groove on. sex, cappuccinos, cigarettes, and martinis. what’s there not to like?

  22. wow, i’m glad that i’m not the only who is in serious disbelief that she got a book deal. i initially didn’t want to add that on to what i said before, lest i seem like too much of a hater. 🙂

    you people need to get out and get your groove on. sex, cappuccinos, cigarettes, and martinis. what’s there not to like?

    sorry, but you can’t have it all.

  23. sorry, but you can’t have it all.

    u can if ur long Pfizer. american capitalism meets the french work ethic.

  24. But unfortunately (or at least so it appears to me) she writes about sex and alcohol and men and feminism not because she really has something to say, but merely because it fits with the image she’s created for herself.

    Does she really write about feminism that often? I saw one post in which she said that she went to a women’s college, it’s not impossible to be both feminist and feminine (um, duh, but even if you’re not a feminine woman, what’s wrong with that?), and the ‘one way’ in which she considers herself a feminist is when it comes to how pissed off she gets at being called a ‘woman writer.’ Yeah, solidarity! (And then she even goes on to say that she got militant by just saying that. Ugh!)

    If she becomes well-known in the West though, hopefully ‘dowry system-arranged marriage-bride burning-female foeticide’ won’t be the first thing that people think of when they think of Indian women, and this will give a more well-rounded view of the diversity within India.

  25. I wonder how much of what she writes is fact and how much is fiction? Kind of reminds me of that guy (Frey?) who wrote A million little pieces…

  27. Well Meenakshi’s a friend of mine, so I guess I’m probably a little biased. But I like how everyone’s got into the whole ‘demonize anything that wants to be S&TC’ thing happening here. I might earn your ire here, but I quite like some of what she’s written. I agree that most of her content is ‘salacious’; I’m sure it has been done to death outside of India. But despite its shortcomings, it chronicles a lifestyle that does exist. Whether there are any merits in such a lifestyle is, of course, a matter of debate.

    In a country like this one – where you could be lynched for speaking your mind, need explain yourselves to nosey relatives and are expected to be a virgin when you get married, it takes balls to pull off a blog like hers. Shobha De was already Page 3 when she started writing her stuff. She’d been a model and film critic for many years before she came out with her novels. Minna is still middle class. And many women in the metros actually relate to her. Overlook the S&TC posts and there are a whole lot of rare posts that speak of someone grappling with the reality of two Indias – be it her Mal-Gult parentage or her love for Delhi.

    The trashiness of some of her content notwithstanding she does speak for a set of people that haven’t been spoken for before. No harm in that, no?

  29. I agree that most of her content is ‘salacious’

    Salacious rocks! Poorish writing…not so much. But hey, that’s what editors are for.

  30. I say more power to her and to any other Indian who subverts the rigid sexual mores in that country and reprises the sexual freedom that India was so well known for. Maybe for some of you India shall arrive when the stock index reaches 50000 or when an Indian lands on Mars but I’ll be proudest of my homeland when I and my future Indian girlfriend can sprawl butt-naked on a beach in Kerala, unmolested by either police or thugs.

  31. In a country like this one – where you could be lynched for speaking your mind

    Huh???? For you it might just be hyperbole but for many a dolt in America this will actually end up becoming his/her standard talking point about India.

  32. If I wrote a sexcapade blog it would be much much better

    can you write with a swollen wrist?

  33. Its not the supposed salaciousness of the posts that bothers me. Its the complete lack of originality. Even the title of her blog posts, seem like a rehash of old SaTC episode titles. She just comes across as a Carrie wannabe, a caricature, Oh look at me I am so cool, I drink, I smoke and have sex, oh and by the way I buy expensive cat litter, I am so rebellious! Well, good for her, she gets a book deal for rehashing old material.

  36. Yogi – I’m not fan of Sex & the City (mostly for being held up as speaking for women in New York, when um, no. just, no.), but I think the thing is, it is original for India. I don’t expect metro Indians to keep up with American media, so I think they’re entitled to their own Sex & the City, of sorts.

  37. I’ve actually seen every episode of Sex and the City (those puns. TORTURE.) and what always struck me was how Carrie was how ignorant Carrie seemed of sexuality in general. You’d think a 30-something sex columnist would be more open-minded (like that episode where she gets all freaked out that her new boy is bi). F*cking hell, I was, what, 15? when the series ended and I felt like I had figured out most shit that the women on this show probably wouldn’t for… ever, actually. And that’s the thing about eM, it truly doesn’t seem that radical to me either.

  39. Nala-

    This woman is from India but all her pop culture references seem to be American, quickly browsing through her blog I found references to Sesame Street, Desperate Housewives and of course Sex and the City, so even though what you say is probably true about most Indians it probably doesn’t apply to this blogger and her circle of friends.

  40. And that’s the thing about eM, it truly doesn’t seem that radical to me either.

    for Christ sake nala, what do you want her to be? a sex pozzie taking on the rad fems in defense of sex workers in delhi. the auntijis are scared enough as it is.

  42. for Christ sake nala, what do you want her to be? a sex pozzie taking on the rad fems in defense of sex workers in delhi. the auntijis are scared enough as it is.

    i was just stating my opinion; i don’t know why you’re getting all worked up. i don’t ‘expect’ her to be anything, nor do i ‘expect’ S&tC to be anything; I’m just saying that I don’t find either of them that ‘radical’ in how we look at sex and relationships. then again, that may just be my perspective because i’ve grown up in such a ‘sexually liberated’ time and place. my bigger point is, even though i’ve grown up in this ‘sexually liberated’ time and place, i think it’s still fucked up. and i bet india will be too once the ‘sexual revolution’ hits.

  43. and i bet india will be too once the ‘sexual revolution’ hits.

    i meant to add that it’ll just be fucked up in a different way from how it is now.

    also, what is a ‘pozzie’? (also, i think you’d find that most radical feminists would actually support sex workers, but after reading your comments about race relations in the U.S., i’m scared to hear your perceptions of feminists, Manju)

  44. i was just stating my opinion; i don’t know why you’re getting all worked up.

    sorry nala. got too worked up. gotta cut down on those martinis, cappucinos and cigarettes. i’ll keep the sex though.

  45. I think Indian women have their own lifestyles that need not be boiled down to the NY prototype. So for all US Desis bitching on this blog, I think its more important to listen to what she’s saying (even if it is banal sometimes)rather than jump and cast judgement based on SATC. Seeing Delhi and Bombay through her eyes have been fun for me – it tells me how much things are different now than even a few years back and I applaud her for her frankness. And I’ve read way worse contemporary SATC versions from NY itself. So rather than seeing it a constant game of the desh catching up, root it in the ethos of the country rather than some abstract blanket terms of judgement. And frankly, I detect a note of disdain in these comments that appears to go beyond aesthetic considerations.

  46. when I and my future Indian girlfriend can sprawl butt-naked on a beach in Kerala, unmolested by either police or thugs.

    It is already possible – in some private beaches in Goa, for eg. Remember, whatever u can say of India, the opposite is also true.

  47. also, what is a ‘pozzie’? (also, i think you’d find that most radical feminists would actually support sex workers, but after reading your comments about race relations in the U.S., i’m scared to hear your perceptions of feminists, Manju)

    pozzie is short for “sex positive.” you’re probably right that the majority of currently self-defined feminists support sex workers, especially the self-defined 3rd wavers, but the dworkin/mckinnon influence is still there and there is a huge debate between these “rad fems” and the “sex pozzies” who believe the radfems are patronizing them by trying to outlaw what they consider their freely chosen profession. (there is also a huge debate a between radfems who believe in gender essentialism and thus don’t accept the transgendered.)

    so a lot of sex pozzies refuse to call themselves feminists, just like some black “feminists” who rebel against mainstream feminisms patronizing attitude. see for example renegade evolution for an example of sex poz and blackacademic for an anti-feminist black feminist.

    as far as my perception of feminism vis a vis race relations in the US, yes i’m sure it will be scary to you. i think the mainstream feminist movement is just a cover for reactionary leftist politics, not unlike some famous American race hustlers.

    but i know as much about feminism as i do about the civil rights and black pwr movements, which is to say lot or nothing depending on your point of veiw. i’ve also read a huge amount of kennedy biographies, more than any conservative republican should. really. ask me anything about the kennedys…i know all the sordid details…much dirtier than the The Compulsive Confessor or sex pozzies.

  48. Would anyone be proud to have someone like this as their sister or daughter? Maybe some of you women would…I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t. I haven’t read her blog but based just on what’s being described here.

  49. Manju – I think you’d find that even Dworkin and McKinnon and most radical femininsts would support sex workers, porn actresses, strippers, etc. – even if they do not support the act/profession itself, mostly because of the belief that they are victims of a patriarchal society, whereas feminists who consider themselves sex-positive would not want to take agency away from women. and it’s not really surprising to me that there are black feminist anti-feminists out there… i kind of stopped identifying with the feminist movement after attending a meeting of my (very liberal) college’s Feminist Alliance. one meeting is really all it took.

    i’ve also read a huge amount of kennedy biographies, more than any conservative republican should. really. ask me anything about the kennedys…i know all the sordid details…much dirtier than the The Compulsive Confessor or sex pozzies.

    haha… well, can you tell me who really killed JFK?? 😛

    to get back on topic… surely there have got to be Indian blogs that get more than 400-500 hits a day??