Revenge of the Nerds - Part 2

One of the best books I've read in the longest time is Robin David's City of Fear. If the crappy books I got sent to review were any indication, I was sure that City... would be very well received indeed. The book was released and got like maybe 3 reviews in print and some more online. And that was it. No buzz, nothing. Apparently, the publishers were a bit nervous that Modi would get mad, really mad, and decided to keep things a bit low key.

In the nicest bit of news I've heard so far this year (and 2008 has been terrible, miserable, horrible for me and my family), The Indian Express informed us that City of Fear has been nominated for the Crossword Book Awards in the non-fiction category, with, hold your collective breaths, the likes of Ramchandra Guha and William Dalrymple. So whether the book finally manages to win or not, I think Robin's courage and the conviction and strength of his writing have already won. Proving finally that in some quarters at least, it's what you know and how you write that count, and not the buzz and weird publicity that you manage to generate...

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