told me about how popular it was becoming in India, I had to read it.
I must admit it was fascinating. I thought to myself, this story vibes
so well with the current trends, but the prose is not really
fantastic. It was interesting to see this article about it in the New
York Times this week --
"Until about four years ago, Chetan Bhagat was an investment banker
distinguished from the suited phalanx in this city's crowded financial
district only by his secret hobby.
While others planned weekend excursions to the golf course, Mr.
Bhagat, then employed by Goldman Sachs, indulged a passion for
writing, laboring in his private time on a racy, comedic little novel
about life on the campus of an elite college in his native India. In
the early morning, before going to the office, he would work on draft
after draft of the book, trying to get it right. He did 15 drafts in
all.
Today Mr. Bhagat is still an investment banker, now with Deutsche
Bank. But he has also become the biggest-selling English-language
novelist in India's history, according to his publisher, Rupa &
Company, one of India's oldest and best established publishers. His
story of campus life, "Five Point Someone," published in 2004, and a
later novel, "One Night @ the Call Center," sold a combined one
million copies.
Less than three days after the release in 2005 of "One Night," another
slim comedy, about love and life in India's ubiquitous call centers,
the entire initial print run of 50,000 copies was snapped up, setting
a record for the country's fastest-selling book. And Ballantine has
published a paperback edition of the novel in the United States."
Read the full article at --
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/books/26bhagat.html?ex=1207368000&en=904d081c93a09481&ei=5070&emc=eta1
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