Bestseller by Ahmed Faiyaz

Book – Bestseller

Author – Ahmed Faiyaz

Publishers – Rupa Publications India

No. of pages – 196

Genre – Fiction

Ratings – 4/5

About the book –

Akshay Saxena, an out of work editor of a defunct literary magazine in the UK, is told to move to India for a year to help shore up the value of Kalim, an ailing Indian publisher.
Akshay finds himself in a job where he has to do the impossible. Angus Lee, the new owner of Thomson Lee Books, wants at least five bestsellers in the coming year, failing which the business would be wound up.

He has to find a way of making a success out of books he would never publish or would never even read. To complicate things further, he has to contend with motley crew of has-beens and misfits working for the publishing house as well as wannabe writers, dealing with their follies and derisive tactics, and battle his own affections for Zorah Kalim, the impulsive daughter of his former boss.

Review –

The story revolves around the life of Akshay Saxena who flies to India in search of a job. He gets into publishing business to find out how messes up the progress is.

Starting from day 1 to day 365, there is a lot to follow up. And the question whether he will be able to sustain his job remains a huge question.

The book is a very humorous and a light read. It helped me to relax and have a good laugh at times. The story overall is very relatable especially for people working in publishing house (of course, that’s where the protagonist works) service sector and also to reviewers. The character development was brilliant and very realistic. There are parts in this book which also highlights how office politics works and how one might find grinding between celebrity/politicians if working with them.

After reading the first 5 pages, I was already curious to find out what all the protagonist will be going through to keep the place working. The protagonist, Akshay Saxena, is a kind of person who doesn’t speak his mind out but rather tries to flatter other people which would benefit him or the publishing house. Most of the dialogues of his are followed up by something he would rather want to say but chose otherwise to play safe.

Though we don’t like such people, we can’t deny how true it is. Most of us do that and have encountered such people which makes his character very realistic.

There were few lines/dialogues in Hindi with witty thoughts and writing style. The book kept me hooked. I never felt bored or out of place while reading. Quiet engrossing.

Also, perfect book cover. As you progress with reading, the book cover will make perfect sense.

You can buy the book from here.

– Kinjal Parekh

youtube.com/c/KinjalParekh