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The Good, The Bad and The Ridiculous

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Little Red Book of Word Power Learn with the help of this handy volume how to sharpen your English and use vocabulary more effectively. Little Red Book of Word Power is an indispensable guide for people who want to understand the subtle differences in the meanings of words, and strengthen their communication skills in the process. Its easy to confuse similar sounding or similarlyused words in the English language and this book will answer all your doubts about which word to use and when. You will learn whether it is appropriate to abuse or misuse acquiesce, assent or agree active or proactive ad hoc or ad lib adopted or adoptive. . . And much, much more!

220 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2013

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About the author

Khushwant Singh

298 books1,433 followers
Khushwant Singh, (Punjabi: ਖ਼ੁਸ਼ਵੰਤ ਸਿੰਘ, Hindi: खुशवंत सिंह) born on 2 February 1915 in Hadali, Undivided India, (now a part of Pakistan), was a prominent Indian novelist and journalist. Singh's weekly column, "With Malice towards One and All", carried by several Indian newspapers, was among the most widely-read columns in the country.

An important post-colonial novelist writing in English, Singh is best known for his trenchant secularism, his humor, and an abiding love of poetry. His comparisons of social and behavioral characteristics of Westerners and Indians are laced with acid wit.

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5 stars
14 (15%)
4 stars
35 (38%)
3 stars
28 (31%)
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12 (13%)
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
Profile Image for Nilay.
47 reviews5 followers
December 13, 2014
A life spanning almost 100 years among some of India's most important people. I can't even imagine the amount of knowledge and secrets that Khushwant Singh had in his brain.
We are so lucky that he turned out to be a Writer (and an amazing one actually). Otherwise, we could have lost so much of historical anecdotes, trivia and gossips!

Coming back to the book, majority of the people mentioned in the book are famous and you must definitely have heard their name. Some other people whom you have never heard of, you will find yourself reading about them on Wikipedia after reading about them in this book. Khushwant Singh has met numerous people and thanks to his habit of keeping a diary, has done a marvellous job of profiling these important people and their life. Some of it, especially the ones related to the Nehru-Gandhi family might sound bias as it is his point of view but it is nonetheless engaging and informative.

Go read it and get your little scoop of Indian history. Nothing much of literary beauty here, it is plain character profiling - The beauty of this book lies in the little stories and bittersweet memories of Khushwant Singh. On another note, I wish we had Pensieves in reality, life would have been so much fun!
Profile Image for Rabia.
233 reviews66 followers
May 25, 2019
"He was like a cactus. He hurts anyone, he touched"
Khushwant Singh didn't spare anyone in his book. Whether its Nehru, Ghandi or Jinnah and many more. He described good traits of people as well the bad one. Many people whom he has discussed here in this book have serious contradiction with Khushwant singh and showed angry reaction after publishing.
He discussed all those peoples,he meet in his life and spend some time with them. He found some of them good, some as bad and some as ridiculous. Instead of sharing sophisticated stories of the people as many authors do, he do categorize them in three catagories and penned all.
He roasted and discussed many people in brutal and honest way.
This is the book in which he write about many famous and infamous people of history, which broaden the sight of reader about people of past. Most of the time i googled the picture of relevent person and then read about them.
He discussed very briefly and in good way about Jinnah, Gandhi, Nehru, Indra Ghandi, Mother Teresa. Where as st other hand he brutally roasted Zia's routine, Phoolan Devi, Protima Bedi and many others. He do compare Zia-ul-haq with Mujeeb ur Rehman and both were totally opposite from each other. He considers Mujeeb as better person then Zia-ul-haq. Zia is man of discipline, time and few words while Mujeeb's office cleared every thing that no one was confined to meet him. But he mentioned Mujeeb has less ordered life and system then Zia-ul-haq.
I'm stunned after reading each person, all these stories were in his mind from very past and exist very clearly.
He penned them down later although most of these considered as controversial. It can be considered as a wonderful trademark of Khushwant singh.
Recommended to one who is interested to know people in last particularly their living traits.
Profile Image for Amrendra.
348 reviews15 followers
March 25, 2020
A very candid account of 35 famous personalities of the author's times, this book is a breathtaking exploration of their personality, their career, their genius, their failings and at times their lovable foibles. From politicians to diplomats, authors to religious figures, dictators to actresses, philanthropists, poets, everyone of the who's who from the 1950s to the 1980s features in this collection of profiles authored by the inimitable Khushwant Singh in his uniquely forthcoming and humourous style.
Profile Image for Rahul Waghmare.
227 reviews3 followers
June 18, 2024
It was written to expose the secrets of big shots who have been in contact with the author. However, most stories seem to wander from the main point and depict his prejudices. after reading all the stories, you can see the bias and author's viewpoint. it confirms the lack of unbiased observation which would have been the first expectation of any reader.
Profile Image for Sbijapure.
97 reviews14 followers
May 16, 2024
A very readable book. The author speaks about his interactions with many personalities and gives first hand information most of the time.
Profile Image for Pushpam Singh.
Author 1 book20 followers
February 17, 2014
I found this book on the bookshelf of my friend and so read it. I wouldn't have bought this book and read it.
This book has only one agenda - to bring in light the secret life of big shots in India. But what is the point?
Khushwant Singh writes these stories from his point of view, how he perceived these people, during those encounters.

Profile Image for Sukanto.
240 reviews11 followers
June 27, 2014
Very colourful, even if controversial, account of Khushwant Singh's perspective of people and events.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews

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