Book in Top 20 fiction in India Today latest December Edition

Thank you Readers!!

Merry Christmas!!
&
A prosperous New Year!






Book Events
1) Book released in Oct 1st week in Reliance Timeout, Ambience mall, gurgaon
2) Book launch coverage - HT City
3) Book review in Asian age, Indian express , Delhi times whats hot,
Jagran newspaper
http://www.asianage.com/books/desi-nerd-gori-hottie-634
http://post.jagran.com/shit-happens-1325162158

Awards

1) Book in Landmark top 10 best seller fiction list in all 4 weeks in November 2011
http://www.facebook.com/landmarkstores#!/note.php?note_id=10150422127693606
2) Book currently in Top 20 best seller list in Om book stores.
3) Book in December 2011 India today Top 20 fiction novels.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/bestsellers-for-december-2011/1/165242.html
4) Book in top 10 in Afternoon , a Mumbai magazine
http://afternoondc.in/book-review/bestsellers/article_43349

Book Review by Youth website

Book Review: Shit Happens!

By Karan Puri

About the Book:

Anurag Sinha, a thoroughbred nerd, leads a cocooned life, confined more or less to the four walls of his room. A one-of-a-kind dad, a weepy mother and weird relatives complete his life. Average girls ignore him, hot girls bully him and school studs abuse him. His shitty Delhi existence goes on until the big day arrives. Our hero gets a scholarship. To University of Rochester. To New York. To United States of Bloody AMERICA! Life must only look uphill from now on. America must be at least hundred times better than India. But shit happens. All the time. Everywhere. Even in America! A roller-coaster American ride leads our desi boy to an exceptional journey rippling with twists and turns. Nonchalant blondes, mugless washrooms, strange slangs, good-hearted friends, beefy encounters, boozy nights and even a white girlfriend—America shows Anurag itself in all its psychedelic craziness. But dreams and roller-coaster rides don’t go on forever. What will happen to our hero? Will he return to his life in India or will he stay on? Dream on!

Review:

Okay, when one reads the description of the book above, it has a lot of promise and the title in itself portrays that it has got to be funny.

“Shit Happens” is a book in which most definitely a lot of SHIT happens but in a good way!

The book portrays the life story, well a part of the life story, of Anurag who is scared to ‘shit’ by talking to girls. Never ever has even spoken to any girl in his life and when he did, he felt an urge to ‘shit’ to put it in the broad sense.

The story begins on a really promising note. Anurag is a perfect nerd and has gladly accepted the fact too. The family portrayed too is a typical Indian family and you don’t find it hard to accept it and you might even find it relatable on so many different levels.

Shit happens is an easy to read roller coaster joyride of Anurag’s state of affairs from the time he lands in America (and the plane journey which is hilarious in parts) to whatever happens in his journey from the Airport to the University and after that. The characters of Lizzy and Aaron are typical as far as the life of an average American student goes even though I have my doubts as far as the mentality that has been portrayed is concerned.

The book is pretty fast paced and easy to read and there are parts which are beyond hilarious and you just have a good laugh as you go on reading. There are situations that have been picked up with a neat observation and have been portrayed well. If you think of it, the situations that Anurag faces throughout his stay in America appear to be close to real life. There hasn’t been much detail described in the book which even though isn’t a good thing but it goes really well with the theme, the fast paced story line.

The book throttles on and you just can’t stop laughing while reading certain pages. It pretty much portrays the truth of life- SHIT Happens in everyone’s life and sometimes you just can’t do anything about it.

There are moments though when you are tempted to think that it could have been described in a much better way but well this is a pretty neat try and a descent first effort.

Read this one for a couple of good laughs and even though you wouldn’t find it as the most ‘clean’ humor but well ‘shit’ can never be ‘clean’ can it? icon wink Book Review: Shit Happens! books way spotlight Shit Happens journey india hero Happens Book Anurag Sinha

All in all a pretty nifty try and surely a one time read for it’s entertainment value.

Book review in Delhi Times (Whats hot)

Book Review in Asian Age - Nov 27th

Desi nerd, gori hottie!
Nov 27, 2011 - Janice Pariat

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Some of the world’s best authors for children, Roald Dahl, J.K. Rowling, Philip Pullman, have one thing in common — they treat their young audience with respect. Their stories don’t shy away from death, loss and grief because they know that kids are surprisingly tensile and strong, and shouldn’t bemollycoddled.

Karan Puri’s debut novel (the rather charmingly titled) Shit Happens! deals with another sort of trauma: The nerdy, average-looking desi boy living in America. We are jolted (literally, for the book begins with an alarm clock nearly going off) into the world of Anurag Sinha, a teenager blessed with brains but very little cool. Naturally, this affects his entire being and, more importantly, his social life. He’s ridiculed in school by all the popular kids and makes an a** of himself in front of the prettiest girl in his class who tries to cosy up to him to get her homework done on time.

It is, all in all, a pretty “shitty existence” in Delhi. Anurag takes his revenge by using the only thing he can — his cerebral prowess — and hightails out of his school, his city, and country, to America, the land of dreams, on a student scholarship to the University of Rochester (where, incidentally, the author also studied).

Clearly, this is the only way to worm your way out of being bullied. The rest of the book follows the trails, tribulations and joys (of, amongst other things, using slang, and having a White girlfriend) of our protagonist as he wrestles with life and all its boozy student nights and strange coincidences.

America may be the Promised Land in all the movies, but Anurag finds out soon enough that living there comes with its own set of problems — of not fitting in, of rediscovering one’s own identity, and finally whether to return home or not.

We can see what Puri’s trying to do here — make us laugh at and empathise with Anurag all at the same time — yet, while back in 1991 Anurag Mathur’s Inscrutable Americans did genuinely effect some faint sniggers, Shit Happens! falters because the authorial voice doesn’t sit well on the pages. It is very much “a grown-up trying to write through the eyes of a teenager”, and that, apart from making for stumbling reading, also keeps us at a distance from Anurag. It doesn’t merge seamlessly into one. It is never his voice we hear but the author’s, and that shatters all the make-believe we might try to muster.

Janice Pariat, a freelance writer, is based in Shillong

Shit Happens Contest on Dial-a-book!

Winners for “Sh! Contest”
Posted on November 24, 2011 by mayank (dial-a-book.in)

Every day for the next 3 days we’ll put up a question on our blog(in this post itself) and you will be required to SMS the answers to our service number 09650-457-457. We’ll choose winners at random from the correct entries and send them free books.

2nd post: Ever since we announced the Sh! Contest SMS’s have been pouring..Today is the second day of the contest and there’s one more day to go. For those of you who’ve participated and are wondering when will the winners be announced here’s the list of winners for the first day.

Question for 23rd November: Complete the name of Karan Puri’s debut book “Shit Happens! ______ Boy in _________”

Book in Best sellers at Landmark - November 2011

Landmark Best-sellers | Nov 24, 2011
by landmarkonthenet on Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 5:59pm

Here are the best-sellers across Landmark stores for this week!



Books - Fiction



1. Revolution 20:20 - Chetan Bhagat

2. The Litigators - John Grisham

3. Incredible Banker - Ravi Subramanian

4. God Save The Dork - Sidin Vadukut

5. Shit Happens - Karan Puri

6. Mad Tibetan: Stories From Then And Now - Deepti Naval

7. Scarecrow And The Army Of Thieves - Matthew Reilly

8. Move On Bunny! The Uproarious Escapades Of Bunny Kapoor - Vivek Atray

9. Welcome To Americastan - Jabeen Akhtar

10. Ithaca - David Davidar

Media Reviews

The Little Master's Big Cup

If ever there was a chance for Sachin and his team to win the World Cup this is it. After a month in the tournament with chopping and changing of the team composition, Dhoni has found the right mix of guys for the big knockout games. Taking advantage of his experience in big tournaments, Dhoni knew that having momentum at the start of the big tournaments is a thing of the past. Nowadays, it’s about peaking at the right time for teams. The team composition for the World Cup, was the most important for a captain. He has to make sure that the selectors are on the same page and he gets the best team.
Dhoni has been able to keep the selectors with him versus captains in the past.

India – Pakistan is undoubtedly the final before the finals. It’s a battle of nerves and that’s the one thing that Dhoni and his boys have proved that they have the heart for the big games. They have been consistently winning nail biting finishes. With their new found gusto.

This is a major difference between the Saurav Ganguly’s WC team of 2003 and Dhoni’s boys of WC 2011.
Sourav Ganguly’s team in 2003 were a lot more like the men of 1983 — there completely by default, they start winning and then start believing that they can go the whole distance. Dhoni and his boys have come here with the intention to win it, right from the warm-up matches.

The will to win, is the defining difference between Dhoni’s team and those of the past. They have done it in T20 World cup and they want to do it for the country and for their favorite Brand ambassador of Indian cricket “Sachin Tendulkar”. If ever there was a fitting end to Sachin’s ODI career, then this surely is it.

The man has been single handedly getting the Indian team stand up from the dead in hundred’s of matches where India was staring at the brink of defeat. It’s a shame for critics who say that statistics reveal that he has not been a match winner even when he has scored a century. They have forgotten that cricket is a team game and one player cannot win the match.

But even in the light of all criticism and praise, Sachin Tendulkar has shown what a master he is at his game. He has not once been affected by either detractors or supporters and has all through these years, since 1989, focused on playing his game. And that is perhaps what draws the difference between him and every other player, right through the history of the game.

And it is perhaps why even his opponents on the team would perhaps not mind if Sachin goes about scoring his 100th century at Mohali, against arch-rivals Pakistan. It would be a kind of poetic justice. And one that will be much appreciated by all.
Will a World Cup win, India’s second, draw the curtains on Sachin’s career? Will he voluntarily let himself go on that high note? He shouldn’t! Not when he is playing like this. Because today he is playing better than ever before. If one didn’t know better, they’d think that he can still play the next World Cup, wherever it is held. Sachin Tendulkar exudes that confidence. His game is at the peak.

Perhaps the finest tribute to the Little Master has been paid by one of his greatest on-field enemies, Ricky Ponting. After Australia’s World Cup exit after 11 years and 11 months, he talked about finding a Tendulkar-like rebirth in the game for him. But that is where the difference lies. Tendulkar doesn’t wish for a rebirth, he just makes it.
For the great man, and for his countrymen, Dhoni and Co have a match to win. To first get the ego in place, and then win the final hurdle! Amen!

One liners - on the WC 2011

Sachin gives a statement after getting out.
" I was still only changing out of my sweaty clothes and taking a shower and was shocked
to see the whole team back in the dressing room showering too.

On Sehwag hitting four's on the first ball of all 5 league matches of India.

KP - Viru believes that in WC 2011, He's got to First come first serve!!

Rumor on Dilshan,being first player to fail drug test in WC 2011

KP - After his verbal duel on the field with Shaun, looks like he got Tainted.

On the India-Netherland match

KP - The Dutch team seemed to have had some extra Heineken Beer before the start of their match with India.

Kamran Akmal drops two lolly catches in the match vs New Zealand to give Taylor a birthday gift.

KP- Kamran's favourite pickup line "Hello,Can I drop you somewhere?"


In England-Ireland match , there was a lady with a Banner in the Chennai crowd saying

"Munni Badnam Hui, KP Tere liye"

KP - I hope she meant Kevin Peterson, as there was no Keiron Pollard there..to suit her.

Shane Warne's tweet on India-England match being a tie. And media calling him the new "Paul, the octopus"

KP- I think Warnie ate Paul the octopus for Dinner, Shane ain't I right mate!

Why did Kevin O' brien finish the England - Ireland match so soon?

KP- Coz the Irish pubs of Bangaluru also close at 11pm.

On the Pakistan- Canada match going right down to the wire.

KP - The pakis had A-free di to help them Win.

On NEHRA not playing any LEAGUE matches in Bangaluru in WC 2011.

KP- Looks like Nehra is busy oogling at Deepika Padukone in the pavilion stands.

On the last ball of India's batting being a short run ,which in the end cost India the victory.

KP - School cricket kid's can run better than this. What a crime!!

A poem for my Love

Love is the greatest feeling,
Love is like a play,
Love is what I feel for you,
Each and every day,
Love is a great emotion,
That keeps us going strong.

I promise I will be for you,
The same way all life long,
I hope I can make your wishes come true,
the way you care that mine always do.

I love the way you look at me,
Feel all beautiful and treasured,
Most of all I love the way you love me.

Happy Birthday!!!