Whiskey and Suicide paints a kaleidoscope of myriad emotions of the Indian middle class families. In a very informal storytelling style, it narrates the dilemmas of the urban families in dealing with the conflicting emotions arising due to contradictory desires. It is the bonds of family and friendship that allow the protagonists to deal with these crises which are depicted by Manik Bal in a detached but empathetic narrative style reminiscent of the great “slice of life” storytellers of the east and the west.
Now a bestseller with rave reviews :
— This book is raw and real and these people can be anyone truly. It is remarkably heartfelt, endearing, it claws at you at times with its depth and emotion. Hard to put down. One of those books you hand to a best friend and say “Read this!”
— The stories are all very good but out of all my favourite of all these is Her Father’s Killer such an interesting, emotional and unpredictable short story and it really touched my heart.
— Variety of intricate topics and unusual metaphorical contrast become an accustomed feat of the author.
— I loved the author’s style of narrating the incidents. Minimal yet precise.
— Bapu and Her Father’s killer plots are weaved around two completely opposite emotions.
— The heart or the author is easily felt with every line, as the lives of the characters seep in, and it is impossible not to get carried by their wave.
— It’s a fascinating inside glimpse at dysfunctional family life in modern India in real-world times, subtlety told with enough detail to make your hair curl.
— Whether it is the alcoholic father who takes the wrong path after his wife’s death or the sensitive couple in “Subtlety”, most characters are sketched in details.
Modern India is a complex place with the variety of demographics ranging from the multi billionaires to people who are not able to get a day’s meal. The financial liberalization and the IT revolution has created a middle class that is ambitious both in economic aims and spiritual aims. Whiskey and Suicide is empathetic without being condescending.