Book Review: Potluck: A Literary Collection of the Critique Group by Various Authors

 

 
​

Book: Potluck: A Literary Collection of the Critique Group   

Author: Various Authors

No. of Pages: 250

Genre: Fiction, Short Stories 

Publisher: BecomeShakespeare.com

 

From the Book Blurb: "From the intimate to pure fantasy, from first person experiences to travelogues, Potluck is a collection of stories and reflections by a group of Mumbai-based writers from diverse backgrounds. Working mothers, single women, senior executives, a Catholic priest, a Hindu monk, and a writer from Slovenia, are all a part of the Critique Group. You might relive a fond or long-lost memory or be happily transported into a new world as you savour the stories"

There is an interesting background about how this book got written and how the various authors came together. The 26 stories in this book are of varied style and have a strange but very interesting quality to them. They had depth and their pace was just right to create the desired effect. Some of them struck your heart in the right manner, while others hit hard.

I liked the collection although I won't say I loved it and would give it 5-star ratings. Buts that's more to do with me than the book. I enjoy action thrillers and even in case of short stories, I prefer the ones which surprise me rather than move my heart.

But an occasional sensitive read is always good for the mind and the soul ... and the intellectual and spiritually inclined self. A nice collection of short stories none the less. Anyone can pick this one up and can't say they did not like it.

In one line, I might say … Potluck was a nice collection of short stories with such varied emotions and styles that its like having an Indian Thali for lunch with bite sized portions of a wide variety of interesting tasty items

The cover design did not impress me much and I might not have picked the book based on cover design or the name. Maybe the publisher and author collection could have thought a bit from 'marketing' point of view. You got to sell the book and you got to make it appealing … BEFORE people start to read it.

 

Ratings on Book Review Parameters:

Cover Design: 2.0 / 5

Writing Style: 4.0 / 5

Characters:     3.5 / 5

Story / Plot:     3.0 / 5

Climax:            3.0 / 5

Overall:           3.5 / 5   

 

The rating here is for a collection of stories and hence an average across them. Some stories had 5-star climax while others had 2-star kind and so with the writing style. On an average, the stories were pretty nice and I liked the collection