Goodnight and God Bless: On Life, Literature, and a Few Other Things, with Footnotes, Quotes, and Other Such Literary Diversions

by Anita Nair

As each chapter echoes a bedtime rumination, Goodnight and God Bless is about books, writers, mice, mothers, airport hotels, and other such unexpectedly thought-provoking subjects. Snugly interwoven with a warmly personal and anecdotal history of the author, this wise and witty book offers an ironic take on nearly everything. Drawing from her experiences as a woman, mother, daughter, wife and writer, Anita Nair marks over a decade of her literary career with deliciously amusing quotes, mostly unnecessary and unabashed trivia, footnotes and other erudite diversions. This is the perfect book to keep by your bedside, to dip and delve into anytime.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

287 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2008

About the author

Anita Nair is the bestselling and critically acclaimed author of the novels The Better Man, Ladies Coupé, Mistress, Lessons in Forgetting, Idris: Keeper of the Light and Alphabet Soup for Lovers. She has also authored a crime series featuring Inspector Gowda.

Anita Nair’s other books include a collection of poems titled Malabar Mind, a collection of essays titled Goodnight & God Bless and six books for children. Anita Nair has also written two plays and the screenplay for the movie adaptation of her novel Lessons in Forgetting which was part of the Indian Panorama at IFFI 2012 and won the National Film Award in 2013. Among other awards, she was also given the Central Sahitya Akademi award and the Crossword Prize. Her books have been translated into over thirty one languages around the world. She is also the founder of the creative writing and mentorship program Anita’s Attic.

Reviews

[Atishay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Between that first sip and last, I dwell on this and that. Every night there is something to ruminate on. The vagrant mind knows no boundaries. It leaps...
This is the first book I'm reading of Anita Nair and I wasn't disappointed. It's a perfect book to adorn your bedside table. A collection of small essays and articles, each a bedtime rumination on topics ranging from books and movies to mothers and mice. Profoundly calm and beautifully written, I'd recommend it to all those who have trouble sleeping. An excellent book to calm your nerves.

[Preethi Venugopala · Rating 5 out of 5]

This time, it was a rereading. I hadn't rated this book on Goodreads as well.
'Good night and God bless' is Anita Nair's memoir. I had read it years ago from the library. I am a fan of Anita Nair's writing and I wanted this book in my collection.When I got it, this time, I went over each chapter with renewed interest. I could relate to many more things now and hence spent time re-reading all the chapters with a fresh eye.
You will love it if you love beautifully written prose where the author talks about life, literature, and books among other things.

[Agamonee Barbaruah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far one of the best books I have read.

Going by my literary preferences, I loved the simplicity, the poesy and the sheer womanliness of the book's rendition. Anita Nair has a flair for giving the simplest of thoughts the most extraordinary expressions, and I love her for that.

And being a bed-reader by habit, this book came in just handy to slip into sweet dreams after.

[Subashini · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome read! Enjoy every bits of it!

[Ria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have never had the opportunity to read her work and yet I picked up her midnight rumination. She shares her bold opinions on many topics such as word bitch, payasam, travels, family, authors, literary world . I used this book as a nightly ritual, often comforting me with her thoughts and her trivia.

[Puja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rituals can be meaningful and imbibe practices with a sense of purpose. A morning ritual to meditate or water the plants is a good example. My cat has his rituals for different times and situations; we need to be aware about those to get more brownie points with him.

In this book, the author shares her bedtime ritual of writing down her thoughts with a cup of malted milk as she retires for the day. She pens down her contemplations, her analyses on literature and books, her family members, her friends, travels, and trips to her favorite Blossom book store in Bangalore.

I savored every bit of her nuggets as I indulged in my ritual of bedtime reading. It was like enjoying bite-sized desserts, the ones that didn't accumulate as fat on my body, but made me feel warm and satiated.

This book was loaned to me by a friend. I do not think I would have picked it up while browsing through the many book stores on Church Street. Goodnight and Good Bless is a hidden gem. This was my first Anita Nair book and I was impressed with her simple yet evocative style of writing; some of the expressions are beautiful. It felt like she was on my bedside narrating to me and putting me to sleep.

[GJohn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Author compiles her favorite bedtime rituals and ruminations, those span the gamut from fragrant childhood memories, the people and places and cuisines she experiences in her many travels, the occasional sense of morbidity of a literary profession, her deep love for old, ramshackled libraries and aged books, to the titillating flashes of 'Author Power'.

A self proclaimed inveterate Eavesdropper, Nair whimsically jots her keen observation of the ethos of the Literary world, it's many deviations and quirks as well as the irrefutable high of being recognized as a successful and published author.

The narrative is engaging with it's disarming directness and specks of humor. And as promised in the title, the book is liberally sprinkled with footnotes and quotes, to the point where you would just wish to read through a couple of pages without any break in the prose!

[Shalini M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had read two of her novels earlier, and loved them, and was therefore encouraged to read this collection of musings. It was very well written indeed, with a lovely collection of memories and thoughts, giving an aura of calm and peace. I find her writing poetically beautiful, she seems to paint an interesting picture into the mundane. I savored it slowly, but at last I had to return the book (and also was looking to read something fast paced). I finally bought a copy of my own a few days back, it has been on my bedside, and I love reading a few pages before going to sleep.

[Nikitha M S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very intersting and good book to keep beside your bed too sneek into it when you have mood swings

[Samir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Between the pages of a book about books is indeed an enriching place to be in...

[Richa Vera Udayana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is delicious! Nair's mind is brilliant and funny. Would definitely recommend this to a friend. Would LOVE re-reads.

[Nishida]

infavt my selection was wrong......i didnt read yhis book completely..........i thot that it was a wonderful fiction..but i was wrong.

[Madhurima Duttagupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

witty, intelligent and honest...

[meena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am going to use this book as a recommendation for other books to be read :)

[Vestin Verghese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happy Reading

[Rugma Nair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another catch from MBIFL2023*, an absolute gem! Whether I have ever felt this related to any book earlier is dubious. It might be my age or life-experience or my love for books or my imaginations that run amok at times or simply me being a woman, whatever be it, it got me glued to the first page till the very last.
My first Anita Nair book, Goodnight and God Bless is a collection of writings, loosely related to each other, a peep into the author’s everyday life and musings. The book opens a window to the world of a person who reads a lot, who thinks a lot about what was read, who lives life passionately and strongly, yet leisurely at ease. Categorised as non-fiction, the excerpts have a touch of genuinity in them.

What I liked
- Birds of the same feather flock together – I couldn’t help but refer to this age-old proverb. The articles and words resonate a middle-aged, passionate working woman/mother/wife/daughter/friend which is quite relatable to the others in the flock as well as serves as a peep window for outsiders. The female flavour referenced is strictly not about the sufferings or the juggling acts played daily by an average Indian woman. Rather its about a woman living her life carrying along her family and friends and words. Additionally, there are a lot of instances within the book which mirrored my own self, such as:
o Bed-time routine – living on my mid-thirties, I have also developed a comfortable bed-time routine – a warm bath followed by the application of a luxurious amount of moisturiser on hands and legs and crack-heal gel on my dried heels, an occasional malted milk (like the author), a blanket to keep me warm and a trusted book by my side (whether I read it or not).
o Choosing a book by its cover – contradictory to the saying of ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’, be it a library or a book shop I have this unknown urge to choose the book whose cover catches my attention – of course I finalise my decision to take it or not only after reading the blurb, but the initial decision is made in the unholy way; for which I was relieved to read that I am not the only one doing so.
- The infectious reading spree - I do not call myself a voracious reader, but I love the company of books, just like the author, I need a lot of them, I need at least one wherever I go, be it a delayed train or a family trip, I have my alone moments, usually early mornings when Hari and Appu are still on their slumbers, I like to escape away to a little world of words. This book and its incredible innumerable references to the books the author has read, re-kindled by spirit and I am on a reading spree, unsure of its life though.
- Strong language – the author studied literature and her mastery over the language is quite prominent throughout the chapters.
What I did not like
- Elaborate footnotes - the author has a foot-note or a backstory for almost all the events, which is interesting, but in some points, the foot-notes tend to occupy a larger space than the original text, creating a parallel diversion, which when traversed through makes the readers, even forget the original text.
- Too many references – the author has undoubtedly read a lot ( a looott!) and she effortlessly refers to these books or characters in between the chapters, which at times, leaves the readers (it did to me at least) clueless being not familiar with that story/situation.
Collectibles
- I had absolutely no understanding of what it is to age. Of feeling that utter helplessness, of the feat that come to haunt. And if recognising that the selfishness we attribute to the elderly is merely a constant self-preservative vigilance of having to watch for one’s self.
- About her stand on smells and perfume
o Somewhere out there they all exist. Time in a bottle. A djinn capable of lying bare forgotten secrets and hidden desires. And even tomorrows
- About the first book publishing event
o What if no one turned up? Was the chorus that sang in my head. (And you know your name means nothing to them when they pick your book and scan its entire 200 pages and then puts it down and picks a John Grisham.) So when the first group of people straggled in, I was ready to throw my arms around them and wrap in sheer relief.
Overall a simple, strong book I would doubtlessly suggest to all my friends and family (especially women).
MBIFL2023* - Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters

[Shreela Sen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved reading this.
It's about the slow life, of an author with a fast life!
It's about the "background applications" of her mind ...
It's about so much comfort (I don't mean luxury) & so many soothing, relaxing places, people, conversations, activities, things, animals ... (I didn't like their demonic pleasure in pulverizing living rats (but that was one mention in 300 page ... statistically negligible))
I loved the vicarious feeling of restful activity AND subtle satire, in the first 15 or so chapters. Then it became a ltlle flat for me. Then it became imaginary paradise again when she visits Norway.
I totally loved the two hundred or so books mentioned in the book ... I am going to read some parts again to note down few.
I read this book leisurely, over a lot of days, picking it up when the serious reading or work calls got on my nerves.
I did not like the back cover. I did not like the book title, for that matter.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

While there were some really great essays in here along with some beyond fabulous quotes, the collection overall fell a little flat for me. It really was just a collection - no real thread of theme throughout other than a love for literature (which I do appreciate and relate to!) and no real progress through time that I could understand. Perhaps this would be different if I knew more about the author or the books she's written, but unfortunately I don't. What I found most interesting about reading this book was experiencing the everyday-ness of another culture, as she is an Indian writer currently living in Bangalore (at least at the time this book was written). It's similar to when I read about someone living in a large city and the things they have at their fingertips and take for granted that are understandable but foreign to me and my experiences, but also just enough different from that to be noticeable because of cultural references. At times, I know I missed connections because of not understanding a reference, but for the most part, it was just an enjoyable noticing of how things can be different yet so much the same halfway around the world. Nair's perspective and observations on books, women, friendships, food, and more were relatable and made it an easy read to pick up and put down at will.

#womenwritersoftheworld -> Southern Asia selection (India)

[Sukanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light, breezy read

[Vrunda Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best book I have read, it's one of those books you can reread repeatedly and discover new things you missed the first time.

[Anejana.C · Rating 3 out of 5]

A delectable read.

[Lakshmi Mohan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up from the College library. This book is a light and casual read—easy to get through in one sitting and pleasant while it lasts. The author’s musings on life and literature, sprinkled with quotes and footnotes, make it feel more like a friendly conversation than a serious work of criticism. It doesn’t demand much from the reader and works well as a one-time read.

I enjoyed it, though I wouldn’t call it a book that stays with you long after you finish. It’s more of a literary diversion, just as the title promises—good for those moments when you want something relaxed, thoughtful, and undemanding.

[Kavita · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of essays that are rooted in the recollections and ruminations of the author. An easy breezy read... heartwarming and relatable..... as you progress through the book and the moments that describe the author's life and experiences there's more than one occasion when you cry out- me too!!!