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Night in Delhi
About the Book
Nervy, daring, properly transgressive, Night in Delhi is Indian fiction remade, with nothing to prove and nothing to lose.' —Jeet Thayil
There are no good people here. And perhaps no truly evil ones. A small-time thief and hustler and his lover and pimp, who is a rising star in Delhi's music scene. A lost American and acolyte of a so-called guru. A young woman who hopes to save herself by becoming a boss in one of India's new mafias. And everyone floating in a world of shades of grey.
In a devastating portrait, Ranbir Sidhu's Night in Delhi invites us into a city and its underworld where at any moment the ground might collapse beneath you.
About the Author
Ranbir Sidhu is the author of six books, including Dark Star, Deep Singh Blue and Good Indian Girls. He is a winner of a Pushcart Prize and a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, among other awards, and his stories and essays are published worldwide. He lives in Greece.
Nervy, daring, properly transgressive, Night in Delhi is Indian fiction remade, with nothing to prove and nothing to lose.' —Jeet Thayil
There are no good people here. And perhaps no truly evil ones. A small-time thief and hustler and his lover and pimp, who is a rising star in Delhi's music scene. A lost American and acolyte of a so-called guru. A young woman who hopes to save herself by becoming a boss in one of India's new mafias. And everyone floating in a world of shades of grey.
In a devastating portrait, Ranbir Sidhu's Night in Delhi invites us into a city and its underworld where at any moment the ground might collapse beneath you.
About the Author
Ranbir Sidhu is the author of six books, including Dark Star, Deep Singh Blue and Good Indian Girls. He is a winner of a Pushcart Prize and a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, among other awards, and his stories and essays are published worldwide. He lives in Greece.
191 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 16, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 31, 2026
What happens when J D Salinger has angry, insidious sex with Surendra Mohan Pathak? Night in Delhi, apparently.
I really wanted to like this book. I have a signed copy, I met the author; a gentle, polite man and had a pleasant time talking to him. I wish I could say the same about my experience reading the book.
It is tricky being critical of "high literature". If you Google the book, the reviews are mostly complimentary, using words like "uncomfortable" and "gritty". However, as someone who has lived in Delhi, and loves the city to a fault, I can tell the author has lived in a very different city, one that might even not exist outside of his imagination. For starters, Delhi isn't a European town, small enough to cover on foot, yet the protagonist does so with infuriating frequency. "Well, a story is what happened with all the boring bits cut out, isn't it?". Sure! But it adds on, and by the end, the loss of credibility makes one wonder how much of the garishness actually exists in the city.
I believe it is easy to write pessimistic, cynical, uncomfortable prose. Deny beauty, reject sincerity, pretend everything in existence is a grift, or is waiting for the right chance to turn into one. The author doubles down on the same. Sex is about power and degradation, even when it is not. Violence flows freely from the tap of human nature, and punching strangers has consequences only when convenient for the plot. All homosexuality comes with a side of self-loathing. I could go on, but I'd rather not. It will get tedious, just like the "gritty neo-realism" of the book.
The prose is top notch, I don't deny it. But the writer falls into the trap of telling a story without having lived it. It reads like an immigrant's imagination of an underbelly, one whose knowledge of it comes entirely from newspaper exposes, urban legends and stories told surreptitiously at a party.
In conclusion, the book is a fantasy. It is made up solely of fanciful notions of what an Indian underbelly of a city would look like, written by someone insulated by their wealth and privilege who has no way of finding themselves in it.
Quick read though. Finished it in about 2 hours.
I really wanted to like this book. I have a signed copy, I met the author; a gentle, polite man and had a pleasant time talking to him. I wish I could say the same about my experience reading the book.
It is tricky being critical of "high literature". If you Google the book, the reviews are mostly complimentary, using words like "uncomfortable" and "gritty". However, as someone who has lived in Delhi, and loves the city to a fault, I can tell the author has lived in a very different city, one that might even not exist outside of his imagination. For starters, Delhi isn't a European town, small enough to cover on foot, yet the protagonist does so with infuriating frequency. "Well, a story is what happened with all the boring bits cut out, isn't it?". Sure! But it adds on, and by the end, the loss of credibility makes one wonder how much of the garishness actually exists in the city.
I believe it is easy to write pessimistic, cynical, uncomfortable prose. Deny beauty, reject sincerity, pretend everything in existence is a grift, or is waiting for the right chance to turn into one. The author doubles down on the same. Sex is about power and degradation, even when it is not. Violence flows freely from the tap of human nature, and punching strangers has consequences only when convenient for the plot. All homosexuality comes with a side of self-loathing. I could go on, but I'd rather not. It will get tedious, just like the "gritty neo-realism" of the book.
The prose is top notch, I don't deny it. But the writer falls into the trap of telling a story without having lived it. It reads like an immigrant's imagination of an underbelly, one whose knowledge of it comes entirely from newspaper exposes, urban legends and stories told surreptitiously at a party.
In conclusion, the book is a fantasy. It is made up solely of fanciful notions of what an Indian underbelly of a city would look like, written by someone insulated by their wealth and privilege who has no way of finding themselves in it.
Quick read though. Finished it in about 2 hours.
December 26, 2024
Racy plot, gorgeous writing.
January 21, 2025
Read this after reading the author's first novel Deep Singh Blue and just wow, very uncomfortable and at times amazing and other times I didn't know what to think. I guess intense is the word. It moves fast and really never lets you go. Four stars instead of five but it stays with you and give yourself some trigger warnings if that's what you need before diving in.
June 22, 2026
Stupid book. Didn’t even want to finish it.
A writer must always know where he writes from. Either from the sidelines or from within. To not know where he belongs and writes about the world is a grave error. Ranbir Sidhu tried to write about a world he never lived in and failed to create an adequate phantasy. His narratives were not localised they were imposed.
A writer must always know where he writes from. Either from the sidelines or from within. To not know where he belongs and writes about the world is a grave error. Ranbir Sidhu tried to write about a world he never lived in and failed to create an adequate phantasy. His narratives were not localised they were imposed.
January 22, 2025
Okay, a lot of people are going to hate this book and a lot of people are going to love it. It is VERY uncomfortable at times, but there's never a moment when the writer doesn't lose the thread. Give it a try. I say it's worth it.
January 22, 2025
Came across this new release at BLF this year. I'm not usually a reader of noir but enjoyed both the language and narrative of this book. Having lived in Delhi for a couple of years pre pandemic, there were a few weirdly nostalgic moments too.
December 29, 2025
Terrible, pessimistic book. The poor protagonist just suffers endlessly with scenes written in just to make up for the lack of an actual plot or substance.
This man attempted to write the next White Tiger but just wrote an empty novel with weak characterisation and an inauthentic core.
This man attempted to write the next White Tiger but just wrote an empty novel with weak characterisation and an inauthentic core.
January 22, 2025
Didn't know what was happening at first, but by the end I was thinking this could be my book of the year. Don't want to say more.
March 19, 2025
What a magnificent book. Must read!
July 13, 2025
bit too intense
May 30, 2025
gorgeously jagged.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews