(Image Credit: http://www.ralfspecht.com) Ralf Specht, the former founding partner of Spark44, a global marketing communications corporation is renowned for his efforts and accomplishments with the industry-first joint venture with Jaguar Land Rover an endeavour that led to a $100m growth in global revenue and 1,200 employees. In his new book, "Building Corporate Soul", Specht underscores … Continue reading Building Corporate Soul – Ralf Specht

(Image Credit: New Humanist) Xavier de Maistre was a French aristocrat who lived out three decades of the 18th century and five decades of the 19th. He also possesses the singularly uncomfortable distinction of being limited to a room for a period of 42 days as punishment for engaging in an illegal duel. Maistre, however … Continue reading I Will Never See The World Again: Memoirs of an Imprisoned Writer – Ahmet Altan

(Image Credit: Readers Digest) Any book that begins with these opening lines, must vacillate between the brilliant and the bewildering: “Antelopes have 10× vision, you said. It was the beginning or close to it. That means that on a clear night they can see the rings of Saturn.” Jenny Offill’s “Dept of Speculation” – written … Continue reading Dept. of Speculation – Jenny Offill

(Image Credit: http://www.amazon.com) Imagine a bunch of inveterate economists traipsing around every State in India, and in addition to producing four humongous volumes of esoteric data on ‘devolution of funds between the Centre and the States’, the team also churns out a slim volume that is a cross between “An Idiot’s Guide to the Index … Continue reading THOSE WERE THE DAYS: TALES FROM THE 15TH FINANCE COMMISSION – Edited by Ashok K. Lahiri

(Image Credit: http://www.ebooksduck.com) Conformity is the handmaiden of society. If monotony greases the finely lubricated wheels of capitalism, ‘received wisdom’ acts to eliminate every force that attempts to buck the trend of convention. Japanese author Sayaka Murata, in her 10th and possibly most critical novel, “Conveyance Store Woman” reveals in an idiosyncratic way, the effect … Continue reading Convenience Store Woman – Sayaka Murata

(Image Credit: http://www.audiobookstore.com) The searing beauty of “The Postman Always Rings Twice” lies in its frightening simplicity. When James M. Cain wrote this marvelous story in 1934, he was one of the undisputed apex predators of the crime noir. Almost nine decades later, he still continues to remain a colossus straddling the genre. A scheming … Continue reading The Postman Always Rings Twice – James M. Cain

(Image Credit: http://www.barnesandnoble.com) Renowned culture critic and acclaimed music journalist, Chuck Klosterman attempts an acerbic encapsulation of the sign of times that was the Nineties. Pyrrhic obsessions and petulant trends are recollected in a biting style of writing that pulls no punches. The Nineties represented a decade where thousands of movie goers flocked to the … Continue reading The Nineties: A Book – Chuck Klosterman