Beauty of these Present Things

by Avtar Singh

This is a hilarious yet thought-provoking first novel from a stylish young writer, and a vivid depiction of life as a twenty-something in contemporary Bombay.

239 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Avtar Singh is the author of The Beauty of These Present Things. He has worked as a magazine editor in Mumbai and Delhi. He lives in Delhi with his wife, son, and singing dog. Necropolis is his latest novel.

Reviews

[Pankhuri · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an interesting stream of consciousness for sure, and i like the diversity in characters. I always tend to approach women written by men with a pinch of salt and a skeptical eye, but for what it is- i can see the effort the author has tried to put in making the women 3 dimensional characters

It is extremely dated though, nothing one can do about it. The character is lewd in a degrading sense, but the honesty of his thoughts provides a nice justification for the same

I picked the book up from a random boot stall in Andheri metro station, and the charm of reading about 2002 bombay added tremendously to my enjoyment of the book. The surreal dreamscape in the end was also one of my favourite parts. Overall, an interesting slice of 2002 bombay.