Non Fiction : -

1. Kenneth Slawenski : J D Salinger : A Life Raised High - Rs 395.00

A sensitive retelling of the life of one of the world’s most reclusive authors, who invented some of literature’s most unforgettable characters.  At the last count, J D Salinger’s seminal work The Catcher in the Rye, had sold 65 million copies. At the book’s early and extraordinary success, when the world’s press began to beat a path to his door, an increasingly reclusive Salinger responded by holing up in a bunker, and refusing to give any interviews. He died aged ninety-one, in early 2010, but in all that time no one penetrated his famous reserve, although three books have been written about him, including one by his daughter, and there was a last interview — conducted thirty years ago.  Drawing on these books, delving into the sparse correspondence and writings on or by Salinger, Kenneth Slawenski has pulled off an impressive coup, connecting the iconic author’s extraordinary life with what he reluctantly shared with the world.  This took Kenneth Slawenski seven years to accomplish, dogging Salinger, as it were, through his traumatic war experiences - including during the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp — his three marriages, his disappointed love in Oona O’Neill and the final years devoted to Zen Buddhism, Catholic mysticism and finally, the teachings of the Indian saint Sri Ramakrishna. Slawenski’s biography is a sensitive retelling of the life of a shy man who invented some of literature’s most unforgettable characters.

2. Patrick & Henry Cockburn : Henry's Demons - Rs 399.00

An achingly honest, harrowing, and resonant dual memoir by a British journalist and his son, about his son's sudden descent into schizophrenia . Unique dual perspective on mental illness, this book combines the perspective of a parent struggling to cope with a child's mental breakdown and the perspective of the child himself.

3. Margaret Heffernan : Wilful Blindness - Rs 399.00

In this book, distinguished business woman and writer, Margaret Heffernan, examines the phenomenon of wilful blindness. Drawing on a wide array of sources from psychological studies and social statistics to interviews with the relevant protagonists she examines what it is about human nature which makes us so prone to wilful blindness. Ranging freely through history and from business to science, government to the family, this engaging and anecdotal book will explain why wilful blindness is so dangerous in the globalised, interconnected world in which we live, before suggesting ways in which institutions and individuals can start to combat it.

4. Vikram Sampath : Voice of the Veena S Balachander : A Biography - Rs 595.00

Of all the stars in the Carnatic music galaxy from the 1930s through the 1980s, there was one star that outshone the brilliance of the rest: the irrepressible genius, S Balachander, who stormed into the prim Madras music scene with a panache and eccentricity that no contemporary of his could match. The veena maestro began his music career at a time when stalwart vocalists ruled the roost and instrumentalists played second fiddle to them. But being an independent-minded and self-taught artiste, Balachander carved a unique niche for himself as a veena soloist. He boldly changed the grammar of instrumental music, contemporised the veena and created a legacy known as the Balachander bani, or style. The multi-faceted musician was also an acclaimed chess prodigy and a pioneer in Tamil cinema. The book attempts to recreate the towering personality that he was – a lot of this researched from his elaborate personal diaries. While his death in 1990 created a void in the Carnatic realm, the issues he fought for remain relevant till date, and his memory lives on in the minds of music connoisseurs. As the maestro himself would have smugly said: ‘Veena is Balachander, Balachander is Veena.’ The enclosed CD contains two of the maestro’s live recordings.   

5. Stephen M R Covey : Smart Trust - Rs 599.00

After illustrating the global relevance of trust with his book 'The Speed of Trust' by selling more than one million copies in twenty-two languages, Stephen M R Covey again illuminates the hidden power of trust to change lives and impact organisations in Smart Trust. In a compelling and readable style, he and long-time business partner Greg Link share enlightening principles and anecdotes of people and organisations that are not only achieving unprecedented prosperity from high-trust relationships and cultures but—even more inspiring—also attaining elevated levels of energy and joy.