Chetan Bhagat profile

       The Economist's Prospero thinks: "Chetan Bhagat is a sensation", and profiles the author in Pile 'em high.
       He suggests:

So far his fiction writing has not travelled much beyond India. Yet he believes foreign readers, who are increasingly eager to get a glimpse of ordinary Indian society, are turning to his stories as an easy-to-digest introduction to a bewildering place. He makes reference to other writers with mass appeal ("a little bit Dickens, a little bit Orwell") who inspired him by raising contemporary social concerns through simple, popular writing, with the suggestion that outsiders may warm to such themes in his writing too.

       Well, there are three of his titles under review at the complete review -- Five Point Someone, One night @ the call center, and The Three Mistakes of my Life -- and while he has a certain ... flair ... well, still, most of this is pretty godawful stuff. But, yes, there's nothing like it coming out of India, and one does wish there was. Well, better stuff, but along these more popular and accessible lines.

       Bhagat was also at the Jaipur Literature Festival, and apparently got in a bit of hot water for his take on the Rushdie-mess (see my previous mention); now in the Times of India they report that Bhagat vexed at being misrepresented for his comment.
       However, I'm not sure he's really helping his cause when:

Clarifying his stand, Bhagat said, "I have a balanced viewpoint on the issue. I think sentiments of the author as well as those who were opposing his visit should be taken into consideration."

       A 'balanced viewpoint' may be the way to go when the two sides are both reasonable and rational; that was not the case here. Bhagat's 'balanced' position seems simply evasive (and not exactly daring ...).