The Revised Kama Sutra

A Novel

Author: Richard Crasta
Length: 375 page(s)
Written: July 2011
Sales Rank: -
Views: 427

Described as an "Indian Catcher in the Rye," and "A South Indian Confederacy of Dunces" by reviewers, this novel, published by Penguin, HarperCollins, Deuticke, Fourth Estate, and others to rave reviews, abounds in wordplay and tastefully sexy, honest and often laugh-out-loud descriptions of India. The book is one of the few recommended by the Lonely Planet Guide to South India.

"Exuberant, unabashed picaresque novel . . . indefatigable good humor transcends the personal to stand for the contradictions and struggles of India as a whole. Considerable, irreverent charm." --Publishers Weekly

"I salute you as a full-fledged colleague. Yes, I am reading you and finding you very funny!"--Kurt Vonnegut

"Absolutely spectacular . . .a hilarious novel, full of wit and glib language, with a whole lot of compassion thrown in. Dickensonian episodes, lightened by the Twain-sounding Tom Sawyerish experiences, with innate humour on every page that makes you smile, giggle or laugh outright. Excellent, irreverent, moving, funny."--Afternoon Despatch & Courier

"An Indian novel with a difference . . . an entertaining romp of a novel, with the Hindu culture at odds with Western sexual freedom. A startling change from A Suitable Boy, Heat and Dust, or The Maneater of Malgudi."--Tim Manderson in "Tim Manderson's Special Selection", PUBLISHING NEWS, U.K.

"Humorous and irrepressibly manic. An Indian Portnoy educated by Catholic nuns."--The Independent, U.K.

"A verbal craftsman . . . hilarious." --Time Out, London

"A delightful and zany debut. Touching. Crasta has managed a voice, unlike most Indian authors. This book is the Empire striking back at the new colonists, the land of Coca Cola and Kentucky Chicken. With his zany sense of humor and a chutzpah fed of locker room bravado and a no-holds-barred attitude towards all holy cows, including the Church, has tossed up a desi kind of Portnoy's Complaint."--India Today

"The episodic nature of sex is most believably represented. Hilarious and delicate"
--Kimberly Leston,The Face, U.K.

"A Dickensian tale of a young boy's travails, a comic-sexual odyssey, and a modern Joycean anti-novel. Peppery wit, no-holds-barred, desanitised, Rabelaisian. His concerns lie with the basic instincts of the middle class. Much that is real and genuine. Surprises you with its remarkable perceptivity"--Times of India

"333 pages of pure fun punched with serious matters of contemplation, topped with irreverence at its healthy best. A Pickwickian comedy. The Glossary is a marvelous example of meaningful iconoclasm . . . sounds which make the book sparkle, an audio-reading delight. Exciting innovations . . unabashedly candid, honest, sharp, Camusesque . . . may seem too daring to some."--Debonair

"Delightfully witty . . . unputdownable . . . a novel written from the heart. From the first sentence to the last, the story unfolds in a manner that is not dissimilar to the languid stretching of arms of a woman after making love. Should be read for the sheer pleasure of reading. "--The Pioneer

"Hilarious contemporary Indian novel shot with some serious undercurrents . . . a rich and multifaceted novel . . . an indictment of colonialism and the colonial legacy on which we depend. A surrealist vision of India . . . Important."--The Hindu [Selected as the BOOK CHOICE of the fortnight by this most distinguished Indian newspaper]

"The author's approach to sex is warm, sensitive, and very, very funny. He may well be the best humorist we've had in ages. [But] the book is also about growing up in a time much more innocent than our own. Crasta's tale is both quaint and poignant, qualities sadly absent from life in the naughty nineties."--Business Standard

About the Author

Richard Crasta
Member since: Apr 2011
Publications on XinXii:  3

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I grew up in India, the descendant of Goan Konkanis forcibly converted to Catholicism by the Portuguese; I became an agnostic at age 16, about the time I read Bertrand Russell and Saul Bellow, and decided to become a writer. I went to the U.S. to feel more free to pursue my dream.

My first novel, "The Revised Kama Sutra"--was extremely well-received in India and was published in 15 editions in 10 countries and 7 languages. It is the uncensored, uninhibited picture of the life of an Indian male from childhood to adulthood. One review said the book "personifies the post-Independence Indian male"; another said it "encapsulates the feelings of an entire generation of Indian men."

I have published a total of 15 books in print and e-book form combined: they include fiction, nonfiction, cultural and political satire and critiques, and humor.

I have lived much of my adult life in New York, and now spend most of my time in Asia.

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