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Lost Libido and Other Gulp Fiction
Short stories, just the way God wants them to be.
'Lost Libido and Other Gulp Fiction' is an incredible collection of stories about people caught in the chaotic, cultural flux of urban India and their reactions to the problems, temptations and tricky choices that life throws at them.
Praise for the book:
'Gripping'
PUNE MIRROR
'Although the book is dedicated to Somerset Maugham, the indebtedness to Alfred Hitchcock is also quite readily visible'
THE HINDU
'Salil Desai enjoys exploring the dark side of human nature and delves into urban situations to see how we are caught up with ethical choices. The stories (in Lost Libido) are set in metropolises. While reading them, one realizes they sound like familiar news or incidents narrated by a friend.'
THE PIONEER
'These are short stories with the most imaginative plots that take unexpected turns and leave you wanting more... a definite page-turner'
BOMBAY TIMES
'The literary equivalent of a mouthful of flavor to be savored and easily consumed'
THE SUNDAY TRIBUNE
'A collection of seventeen extremely interesting short stories... The language is flawless, and all the stories have rather surprising and uncanny twists, which make for absorbing reading throughout'
AFTERNOON DESPATCH & COURIER
'Throws up some startling and unexpected developments - a pre-requisite for a volume of short stories. Desai's writing is energetic and contemporary'
SHOBHAA DE, bestselling author and columnist
'Intriguing, ingeniously plotted and wickedly contrived, these stories offer a welcome and compelling diversion from the mundanities of daily life. A fun read'
DR SHASHI THAROOR, bestselling author, columnist and Member of Indian Parliament
'Spicy narratives that hold up a mirror to the darker impulses that surface in our minds at weak, unguarded moments'
G SAMPATH, senior journalist and columnist
'Lost Libido and Other Gulp Fiction' is an incredible collection of stories about people caught in the chaotic, cultural flux of urban India and their reactions to the problems, temptations and tricky choices that life throws at them.
Praise for the book:
'Gripping'
PUNE MIRROR
'Although the book is dedicated to Somerset Maugham, the indebtedness to Alfred Hitchcock is also quite readily visible'
THE HINDU
'Salil Desai enjoys exploring the dark side of human nature and delves into urban situations to see how we are caught up with ethical choices. The stories (in Lost Libido) are set in metropolises. While reading them, one realizes they sound like familiar news or incidents narrated by a friend.'
THE PIONEER
'These are short stories with the most imaginative plots that take unexpected turns and leave you wanting more... a definite page-turner'
BOMBAY TIMES
'The literary equivalent of a mouthful of flavor to be savored and easily consumed'
THE SUNDAY TRIBUNE
'A collection of seventeen extremely interesting short stories... The language is flawless, and all the stories have rather surprising and uncanny twists, which make for absorbing reading throughout'
AFTERNOON DESPATCH & COURIER
'Throws up some startling and unexpected developments - a pre-requisite for a volume of short stories. Desai's writing is energetic and contemporary'
SHOBHAA DE, bestselling author and columnist
'Intriguing, ingeniously plotted and wickedly contrived, these stories offer a welcome and compelling diversion from the mundanities of daily life. A fun read'
DR SHASHI THAROOR, bestselling author, columnist and Member of Indian Parliament
'Spicy narratives that hold up a mirror to the darker impulses that surface in our minds at weak, unguarded moments'
G SAMPATH, senior journalist and columnist
288 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2012
15 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Salil Desai
11 books94 followersSalil Desai is the author of the much-acclaimed Inspector Saralkar Mystery Series, that includes - The Kid Killer (2023), Murder Milestone (2020), 3 and a Half Murders (2017), The Murder of Sonia Raikkonen (2015) and Killing Ashish Karve (2014). The books are currently being adapted into a web series by Jio Studios.
Titled 'Kalsutra', the first season of the web-series is based on 'Murder Milestone' and is due for release in 2025. Salil is also the lead writer of the screenplay of 'Kalsutra'.
Salil’s other popular books are Murder on a Side Street (2011), Lost Libido and Other Gulp Fiction (2012), as well as The Sane Psychopath (2018). Salil's short story 'Sound Motive' has also appeared in The Hachette Book of Indian Detective Fiction (2024), while other short fiction has been published in anthologies by Penguin, Westland and Unisun.
His latest novel ‘The Grudges of Gajanan Godbole’, a wacky crime thriller, has just been published by Hachette India in November 2024.
His short story ‘The Perfect Day’ and novel ‘The Sane Psychopath’ are also in the process of being adapted for screen as feature films.
Salil’s books have been reviewed in The Hindu, New Indian Express, The Pioneer, Bangalore Mirror, DNA, First City, The Tribune, among others. His work has been praised by veteran authors Dr Shashi Tharoor, Shobhaa De and film-makers Sriram Raghavan and Sujoy Ghosh.
An alumnus of Film & Television Institute of India (FTII), Salil also conducts intensive workshops in creative fiction writing, story and scenario design, screenplay writing and film-making at leading liberal arts institutions and media & communication colleges across India.
He is a seasoned newspaper columnist, with over 400 articles, op-ed pieces, features and travelogues in leading dailies like The Times of India, Indian Express, DNA, The Tribune, Reader’s Digest, Deccan Herald, The Hindu etc.
Salil was one of the four international authors worldwide selected for the HALD International Writers’ Residency in Denmark, hosted by the Danish Centre for Writers & Translators in June 2016. He was also invited to Gullkistan Centre for Creativity, Iceland and spent the month of May 2023 there as a Resident.
Know more about him at www.salildesai.com
Titled 'Kalsutra', the first season of the web-series is based on 'Murder Milestone' and is due for release in 2025. Salil is also the lead writer of the screenplay of 'Kalsutra'.
Salil’s other popular books are Murder on a Side Street (2011), Lost Libido and Other Gulp Fiction (2012), as well as The Sane Psychopath (2018). Salil's short story 'Sound Motive' has also appeared in The Hachette Book of Indian Detective Fiction (2024), while other short fiction has been published in anthologies by Penguin, Westland and Unisun.
His latest novel ‘The Grudges of Gajanan Godbole’, a wacky crime thriller, has just been published by Hachette India in November 2024.
His short story ‘The Perfect Day’ and novel ‘The Sane Psychopath’ are also in the process of being adapted for screen as feature films.
Salil’s books have been reviewed in The Hindu, New Indian Express, The Pioneer, Bangalore Mirror, DNA, First City, The Tribune, among others. His work has been praised by veteran authors Dr Shashi Tharoor, Shobhaa De and film-makers Sriram Raghavan and Sujoy Ghosh.
An alumnus of Film & Television Institute of India (FTII), Salil also conducts intensive workshops in creative fiction writing, story and scenario design, screenplay writing and film-making at leading liberal arts institutions and media & communication colleges across India.
He is a seasoned newspaper columnist, with over 400 articles, op-ed pieces, features and travelogues in leading dailies like The Times of India, Indian Express, DNA, The Tribune, Reader’s Digest, Deccan Herald, The Hindu etc.
Salil was one of the four international authors worldwide selected for the HALD International Writers’ Residency in Denmark, hosted by the Danish Centre for Writers & Translators in June 2016. He was also invited to Gullkistan Centre for Creativity, Iceland and spent the month of May 2023 there as a Resident.
Know more about him at www.salildesai.com
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
March 18, 2017
The title attracted my curiosity.
Wanted to know more about the hapless person with lost libido...and wanted to see how gulp fiction rates.
There are 17 stories.
Each one deals with common/uncommon Indian incidents.
The initial premises are very promising, but in most cases the ending leaves something more to be desired.
I sort of mowed through each story, a couple at a time, as most were captivating.
I encountered
-the man with the lost libido who is trying out conventional and unconventional ways of regaining it
- a small ghost awaiting his playmates
-flatmates who try to kill each other
-a lady who is harrassed by her superior
-a man who is locked in his house by his wife
-a man who takes the drastic step of trying to kill off his family
-officers who kill a colleague
and many more..
Makes for a quick and varied read.
Wanted to know more about the hapless person with lost libido...and wanted to see how gulp fiction rates.
There are 17 stories.
Each one deals with common/uncommon Indian incidents.
The initial premises are very promising, but in most cases the ending leaves something more to be desired.
I sort of mowed through each story, a couple at a time, as most were captivating.
I encountered
-the man with the lost libido who is trying out conventional and unconventional ways of regaining it
- a small ghost awaiting his playmates
-flatmates who try to kill each other
-a lady who is harrassed by her superior
-a man who is locked in his house by his wife
-a man who takes the drastic step of trying to kill off his family
-officers who kill a colleague
and many more..
Makes for a quick and varied read.
May 16, 2019
Now this is how modern, urbane India tells her stories!
Salil Desai is an accomplished storyteller. Mystery lovers admire his tales full of brusque reality, dark humour and nuanced pathos. In this collection he brings all those traits to the fore.
Following stories have found their place in this book:
1. Lost Libido
2. Who Strangled Sharma?
3. Hunch on a Highway
4. Drowning Depth
5. The Maths Conundrum
6. Bit on the Side
7. When the Horse Befriended the Grass
8. Our Friendly Neighbourhood Murder
9. Dubious Distinction
10. The Snake and the Stick!
11. The Record Breaker
12. A Susceptible Conscience
13. The Amateur Murderer
14. The Perfect Day
15. One Monday Morning
16. Cul-De-Sac
17. Spite is Right
Several of these stories were breathtaking in their brevity and dark humour. But several of them failed to click. Even in those stories, we can listen to the changing voice of India, making this collection very-very readable.
Overall, definitely recommended.
Salil Desai is an accomplished storyteller. Mystery lovers admire his tales full of brusque reality, dark humour and nuanced pathos. In this collection he brings all those traits to the fore.
Following stories have found their place in this book:
1. Lost Libido
2. Who Strangled Sharma?
3. Hunch on a Highway
4. Drowning Depth
5. The Maths Conundrum
6. Bit on the Side
7. When the Horse Befriended the Grass
8. Our Friendly Neighbourhood Murder
9. Dubious Distinction
10. The Snake and the Stick!
11. The Record Breaker
12. A Susceptible Conscience
13. The Amateur Murderer
14. The Perfect Day
15. One Monday Morning
16. Cul-De-Sac
17. Spite is Right
Several of these stories were breathtaking in their brevity and dark humour. But several of them failed to click. Even in those stories, we can listen to the changing voice of India, making this collection very-very readable.
Overall, definitely recommended.
September 15, 2016
It was the cover that made me pick out this book.
That and the words "gulp fiction". From content that makes you go gulp to the metaphorical comparison of content that needs no chewing, it’s perhaps an apt description of this set of stories.
And then short stories are easier to digest and review than longer works. Most days, the Internet holds me in thrall. Much that I do there is functional and mundane but then there is also the irresistible wealth of trivia that waylays time such that reading takes a backseat. Travel, where access to the Net is random and constrained, tends to reserve the leisure to finish a full length book. But that’s matter for another day, another post...
This set of seventeen stories has one pretty much recurrent theme: bitterness against women and wives in particular. Wives, in Mr. Salil Desai's tales, nag incessantly. However, in some perverse fashion, it is the men, all of whom seem to harbour such thoughts, who get their comeuppance. Yet the passages which portray the voices of the wives remind me of a real life story I once heard.
A man bought his wife a recording gadget as she had once expressed a desire for such a thing, being something of a wannabe writer. At one point in time, this man then recorded his wife's plaints so that she could hear how terrible her whining sounded. Of course the gadget then promptly not only lost its charm for the original purpose but became a loathsome sight to the woman to whom it was given as a gift. Which makes me wonder how the author hears the other gender. It is not only the eye of the beholder which holds the magic of perception. Ears play their role too. Whatever we are fed in terms of the prejudices of our times and specific backgrounds tend to be burped up as our reality.
In a similar vein as the first story of the book, Lost Libido, there are Bit on the Side, The Maths Conundrum and, most of all, The Snake and the Stick, which reveal, at least in the protagonist, a certain marked attitude towards women.
To be fair, the author seems to be examining the various foibles of humans in general. In One Monday Morning, for example, he plays with the other famous grouse of some men, the purportedly whimsical nature of women. And the gentle twist, in not the tail but a little earlier, neatly stands that particular misunderstanding on its head.
By and large, it seems to be de rigueur that short stories be about unpleasant things or beings. In that sense, Salil Desai had done his bit.
That said, one turns to style as art had this ambition to turn anything into beauty, using the various rules of aesthetics deftly. Well, all I can say is that this book falls into the not merely burgeoning but verily mushrooming genre of new Indian writing in English - a school of the arts which focuses on an Indian readership almost exclusively. And why not? It's a world market in itself given the numbers and diversity.
I reserve all judgement on the phenomenon as it is at present often mind boggling in profusion and presentation. I do applaud the search, conscious or not, for a new voice - in an English that is uniquely and authentically Indian. In some sense, I've observed this trend to indigenise this absurd language among Malay writers and have been utterly charmed with that. However, India is so much huger than Malaysia and way more diverse. Interestingly, though, I seem to be alone in such perverse cogitation. Writings, which have left me totally bewildered, seem absolutely lucid to random readership as vouchsafed by the 'likes' and 'reviews' devoted to such gems.
Salil is, thankfully for me, in no such boat. His English is neither pretentious ( like mine!) nor puerile as I'm forced to label some writers whom I've had the painful task of reviewing.
The slip, if any, is a cross all authors must bear - dialogue, the spoken words... It's no mean challenge to create speech, even when the language is totally your own, spoken by one and all, all the time. Thus, when it comes to rendering this activity where the language is something of a second tongue it can be a task of some proportion. Add to this the fact that, though Microsoft, for example, has Indian English, there is really no or too few defining rules or classifications.
Pardon my ramblings and let us return to Mr. Desai's stories. One thing is for sure and that is that our man has investigated and pondered over millions of potential stories. In these seventeen we visit not only murder (some three are devoted to this) but also marital infidelity, a ghost, a hangman, a streaker, suicide en famille (apparently something of a fairly common occurrence in India), and chain snatchers (also frequently reported in Indian newspapers). Hats off to Salil for including the trauma of marks that burdens the average school child in India as also the queasy charitableness and hypocrisy of most humans when faced with abject poverty.
Since I live in Pune, the book promised a special experience which is mainly fulfilled by place and person names. Apart from that I did not get that palpable experience of events in a familiar city.
As usual, I have been more critical than appreciative, perhaps.
Let me make up for that by selecting two stories as my favourites: Hunch on a Highway and Cul-De-Sac.
The first has going for it a marvellous character, quite typical in nature, and a nice surprise quite nearly at the tail end.
The second is presented as a kind of exercise in possibilities and is perhaps a glimpse into the author's workings. That can be nice or not as autopsies are rarely everyone's cup of tea. Seeing the insides of things is both fascinating and revolting. Still, it was a very amusing read!
I'd buy the book for the cover alone though the contents are worth at least one good read.
A nice gift for any short story lover, and for readers of the new breed of Indian authors writing in English.
That and the words "gulp fiction". From content that makes you go gulp to the metaphorical comparison of content that needs no chewing, it’s perhaps an apt description of this set of stories.
And then short stories are easier to digest and review than longer works. Most days, the Internet holds me in thrall. Much that I do there is functional and mundane but then there is also the irresistible wealth of trivia that waylays time such that reading takes a backseat. Travel, where access to the Net is random and constrained, tends to reserve the leisure to finish a full length book. But that’s matter for another day, another post...
This set of seventeen stories has one pretty much recurrent theme: bitterness against women and wives in particular. Wives, in Mr. Salil Desai's tales, nag incessantly. However, in some perverse fashion, it is the men, all of whom seem to harbour such thoughts, who get their comeuppance. Yet the passages which portray the voices of the wives remind me of a real life story I once heard.
A man bought his wife a recording gadget as she had once expressed a desire for such a thing, being something of a wannabe writer. At one point in time, this man then recorded his wife's plaints so that she could hear how terrible her whining sounded. Of course the gadget then promptly not only lost its charm for the original purpose but became a loathsome sight to the woman to whom it was given as a gift. Which makes me wonder how the author hears the other gender. It is not only the eye of the beholder which holds the magic of perception. Ears play their role too. Whatever we are fed in terms of the prejudices of our times and specific backgrounds tend to be burped up as our reality.
In a similar vein as the first story of the book, Lost Libido, there are Bit on the Side, The Maths Conundrum and, most of all, The Snake and the Stick, which reveal, at least in the protagonist, a certain marked attitude towards women.
To be fair, the author seems to be examining the various foibles of humans in general. In One Monday Morning, for example, he plays with the other famous grouse of some men, the purportedly whimsical nature of women. And the gentle twist, in not the tail but a little earlier, neatly stands that particular misunderstanding on its head.
By and large, it seems to be de rigueur that short stories be about unpleasant things or beings. In that sense, Salil Desai had done his bit.
That said, one turns to style as art had this ambition to turn anything into beauty, using the various rules of aesthetics deftly. Well, all I can say is that this book falls into the not merely burgeoning but verily mushrooming genre of new Indian writing in English - a school of the arts which focuses on an Indian readership almost exclusively. And why not? It's a world market in itself given the numbers and diversity.
I reserve all judgement on the phenomenon as it is at present often mind boggling in profusion and presentation. I do applaud the search, conscious or not, for a new voice - in an English that is uniquely and authentically Indian. In some sense, I've observed this trend to indigenise this absurd language among Malay writers and have been utterly charmed with that. However, India is so much huger than Malaysia and way more diverse. Interestingly, though, I seem to be alone in such perverse cogitation. Writings, which have left me totally bewildered, seem absolutely lucid to random readership as vouchsafed by the 'likes' and 'reviews' devoted to such gems.
Salil is, thankfully for me, in no such boat. His English is neither pretentious ( like mine!) nor puerile as I'm forced to label some writers whom I've had the painful task of reviewing.
The slip, if any, is a cross all authors must bear - dialogue, the spoken words... It's no mean challenge to create speech, even when the language is totally your own, spoken by one and all, all the time. Thus, when it comes to rendering this activity where the language is something of a second tongue it can be a task of some proportion. Add to this the fact that, though Microsoft, for example, has Indian English, there is really no or too few defining rules or classifications.
Pardon my ramblings and let us return to Mr. Desai's stories. One thing is for sure and that is that our man has investigated and pondered over millions of potential stories. In these seventeen we visit not only murder (some three are devoted to this) but also marital infidelity, a ghost, a hangman, a streaker, suicide en famille (apparently something of a fairly common occurrence in India), and chain snatchers (also frequently reported in Indian newspapers). Hats off to Salil for including the trauma of marks that burdens the average school child in India as also the queasy charitableness and hypocrisy of most humans when faced with abject poverty.
Since I live in Pune, the book promised a special experience which is mainly fulfilled by place and person names. Apart from that I did not get that palpable experience of events in a familiar city.
As usual, I have been more critical than appreciative, perhaps.
Let me make up for that by selecting two stories as my favourites: Hunch on a Highway and Cul-De-Sac.
The first has going for it a marvellous character, quite typical in nature, and a nice surprise quite nearly at the tail end.
The second is presented as a kind of exercise in possibilities and is perhaps a glimpse into the author's workings. That can be nice or not as autopsies are rarely everyone's cup of tea. Seeing the insides of things is both fascinating and revolting. Still, it was a very amusing read!
I'd buy the book for the cover alone though the contents are worth at least one good read.
A nice gift for any short story lover, and for readers of the new breed of Indian authors writing in English.
October 25, 2022
Each of the stories come across a point where it will serve you an unexpected turn. I read all of the stories for this specific reason only. All the stories ae very different from others and has something to offer to the readers. Well, not as mystical as his other fiction works, but still it accompanies the reader pretty well. Overall, a good effort by the author with decent collection of stories, where some excels and other are just there to be a part of the race!
February 25, 2019
Good writing
Well done. Writes well. Command on contemporary language and modern Indian ethos is very good. Evokes thinking, at the same time enjoyable with out being frivolous or over hyped
Well done. Writes well. Command on contemporary language and modern Indian ethos is very good. Evokes thinking, at the same time enjoyable with out being frivolous or over hyped
May 4, 2020
First few stories and very good and then they are not. Seems as if there was a need to fill the pages then.
February 9, 2022
A very good try by an Indian author.
May 27, 2022
Every story got it's own life - An Interesting read!
September 4, 2017
So far read the first 2 stories and they are promising. Well written. You can feel the characters. Gripping stories, both.
Overall a satisfactory experience of these short stories. It's all about human behavior in some situations. The characters are true to life and they engross you."
Overall a satisfactory experience of these short stories. It's all about human behavior in some situations. The characters are true to life and they engross you."
December 13, 2019
Good book
Anyone who likes to read short mystry stories would like this book. Good read and must try it. Happy reading.
Anyone who likes to read short mystry stories would like this book. Good read and must try it. Happy reading.
September 18, 2016
Some titles are very teasing and will compel you to buy. One of those is 'Lost Libido and other gulp fiction' written by Salil Desai. And I was not disappointed ;-)
'Lost Libido' - a collection of 17 short stories - reminds the writings of other authors if you are a vivid reader of fiction in many languages.
The first story 'Lost Libido' itself similar to one written by Thamizh Writer Sujatha. 'Hunch in a Highway' takes you to Frederick Forsyth. You can think of Jeffrey Archer when you are going through 'The Amateur Murderer'. An inspiration of one of the Alfred Hitchcock's classics is 'Who strangled Sharma?' but with a slight twist at the end.
Nevertheless, the author engages you with his unbeatable, intriguing writing style. He has also adapted some unconventional end in 'The Maths Conundrum', 'Dubious Distinction' and 'The Record Breaker'. There are also some justice prevailed in 'The snake and the stick', 'Bit on the side' and 'The susceptible conscience'.
But my pick would be 'The Perfect Day'.
-Lost Libido and other gulp fiction, Salil Desai, Finger Print Edition. You can buy this book in amazon.co.in.
'Lost Libido' - a collection of 17 short stories - reminds the writings of other authors if you are a vivid reader of fiction in many languages.
The first story 'Lost Libido' itself similar to one written by Thamizh Writer Sujatha. 'Hunch in a Highway' takes you to Frederick Forsyth. You can think of Jeffrey Archer when you are going through 'The Amateur Murderer'. An inspiration of one of the Alfred Hitchcock's classics is 'Who strangled Sharma?' but with a slight twist at the end.
Nevertheless, the author engages you with his unbeatable, intriguing writing style. He has also adapted some unconventional end in 'The Maths Conundrum', 'Dubious Distinction' and 'The Record Breaker'. There are also some justice prevailed in 'The snake and the stick', 'Bit on the side' and 'The susceptible conscience'.
But my pick would be 'The Perfect Day'.
-Lost Libido and other gulp fiction, Salil Desai, Finger Print Edition. You can buy this book in amazon.co.in.
June 16, 2015
‘Lost Libido and Other Gulp fiction’ wades through multiple short stories voicing the lives of several thousand people across the country, living the urban region. It is easy to relate to most stories since they are slice of life stories but single-mindedly sets out to dwell on the darker side of humans. It captures these very moments in the literary equivalent of a mouthful of flavor to be savored and easily consumed i.e gulp fiction.
September 15, 2012
hmmmm.. i dont know how to rate this book. Some of the short stories were rather interesting with unexpected endings. But towards the end you kind of expect an unexpected ending. A bit more careful editing would have also helped. A page turner no doubt, but more to finish the book off than looking forward to the next story. Worth a read once.
February 15, 2013
This IMO is the best ever cfollection of short stories written by an indian author with sum kinda twist in the ending . most of the stories are highly enjoyable and the book kept me engrossed throughout !
March 24, 2013
Nice collection of breezy short stories each with an unexpected ending and some of them real twisted ones! I enjoyed reading all of them - fun read for a weekend...would be a decent read for readers who enjoy the short-story genre...
July 21, 2016
This is surprsingly refreshing and fun
June 1, 2013
This is a collection of stories. Title is one of the stories that is in the collection. Easy and good read.
August 20, 2015
Compilation of good stories. Shows life's perspectives in varied angles.
January 25, 2015
Some of the stories are good.
August 2, 2016
It was good.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews