Penguin to publish two new titles by author Anees Salim
What's the story
Penguin Random House India on Friday announced the acquisition of two new titles by award-winning contemporary writer Anees Salim. The two new titles—The Odd Book of Baby Names and The Bellboy, will be published under the Penguin's Hamish Hamilton imprint in 2021 and 2022, respectively, the publishing house said in a statement. Here are more details.
Books
Salim has authored five books so far
While The Odd Book of Baby Names is a historical fiction tracing the last days of one of the last kings in India who is rumored to have fathered more than 100 children, The Bellboy is a story about a 17-year-old bellboy from an island that's slowly disappearing off the face of the earth. Apart from these, Salim has authored five books so far.
Anees Salim
I find a bit of myself in these books: Salim
Salim said, "These two books are entirely different in terms of craft and characterization. While The Odd Book of Baby Names has a historic background and is narrated by multiple voices, The Bellboy is set in contemporary India." "As in my previous works, I find a bit of myself in both these books," said the author.
Awards
He has received several prominent literary awards
Salim's published book Vanity Bagh had won the Hindu Literary Prize for Best Fiction in 2013. His other book The Blind Lady's Descendants was the winner of the 2014 Raymond Crossword Book Award for Best Fiction and the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award 2018. His other published book The Small-town Sea won the Atta Galatta-Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize for Best Fiction in 2017.
Quote
He is the master of tragicomedy: Executive Editor, Penguin
Manasi Subramaniam, Executive Editor at Penguin Random House India said, "He is among the finest living writers we have in English language. His wry sense of humor and his razor-sharp wit belie his uncanny understanding of human frailty. He is the master of the tragicomedy."