Richard Crasta, Author

A few other reviews of The Killing of an Author that I wish to share with my blog readers (more in a different post): "You are funny and delightful . . . and nowhere are you too heavy to carry. I've never read anyone like you. I laugh, I ache, I smile, I cry - but never close the book without that smile surfacing."--Sheelagh Grenon, Canada From Jesus B. Torres, Commander, Marine Corps, and author: "I am not an avid reader as I'd like to be but after having Richard Crasta over for a meal and conversing with him, I realized that one of the newly acquired goals I self-realized was to read that book. Normally I'm a thin-skinned reader who winces at the thought of multiple consonant words which there are a myriad of, but I've never, "And the Rock says NEVER" enjoyed a book as thoroughly as I have with this one.....applause to Mr. Crasta for his hilarious breakthrough on what the hell it takes to get a book published. It almost cost him what...

These are quotes from various reviews for my books. Actual full reviews (a few of them) can be seen here: http://bit.ly/eFzXjn   Other reviews may be seen on amazon.co m by looking up the individual titles.   THE REVISED KAMA SUTRA: A NOVEL "Exuberant, unabashed picaresque novel . . . indefatigable good humor transcends the personal to stand for the contradictions and struggles of India as a whole. Considerable, irreverent charm." --Publishers Weekly "I salute you as a full-fledged colleague. Yes, I am reading you and finding you very funny!"--Kurt Vonnegut "Irreverent, unputdownable . . . has a comic timing never seen in any Indian novel to date."--The Indian Express "Absolutely spectacular . . .a hilarious novel, full of wit and glib language, with a whole lot of compassion thrown in. Dickensonian episodes, ...

To raise finances to meet unexpected expenses and to help me go on writing, I have put this domain: www.brownboys.com up for sale. It was registered in 1999, and I think it has great potential, possibly as a commercial proposition, and possibly as a powerful symbol for the over one billion or more brown-skinned persons (and "persons of color") on this planet. I can think of other imaginative uses for this, and someone who can invest in this domain and hold on to it until the right buyer comes along (a sheikh? a billionaire? a corporation?) might turn in a neat profit. If you need to buy this domain, for yourself or as an investment, please contact me at rc@richardcrasta.com

Like R. K. Narayan, who wrote in "My Days" that if he could have told the story of his novel "The Guide" in a few sentences, he wouldn't have taken 90,000 words to do it, I find myself at a loss to answer a question such as, "What is your novel about?"--when the question is put to me by a new acquaintance regarding my novel "The Revised Kama Sutra." I wish to reply: "Almost anything and everything you can think of!" Or: "It would be easier to tell you what it is NOT about." (Or, to the equally difficult question: "What do you write about?": "The sex life of mosquitoes." "The love lives of Chlamydomonas.") Anyway, on a recent trip to the U.S., I uncovered a few of my old reviews, and one of these was this review of "The Revised Kama Sutra" by Shivaji Sengupta in "India Abroad," New York., and think it is one of the most intelligent and well-phrased answers to this questio...

The Amazon Kindle e-reader has arrived in Indian stores, and Amazon has opened its publishing platform to Indians. To celebrate this, I have reduced the Indian prices of some of my books to encourage my Indian readers to go ahead and get themselves a digital copy of my books. The Kindle platform presents one big advantage to an Indian independent writer: freedom of expression, and the ability to bypass gatekeepers and distributors and reach the reader instantly, without shipping or other costs. For this one reason alone, Indian independent writers who publish on the Kindle deserve the support of fellow Indians and others; for with its feudal traditions, cronyism, and corruption, India needs writers who write without fear of being muzzled or shut out by the Gatekeepers of Publishing and by the government. My books are at: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001ICH6H4 You can also download Kindle-friendly mobi files and epubs from here (the selection of books is a bit different): https://w...

From "The Face Magazine", UK: one of the over 60 reviews received by "The Revised Kama Sutra":   Still others may be read at: http://bit.ly/eFzXjn

Two reviews came to my attention recently: A review from a blogger/author ("Amazing book . . . finished it in one sitting."): http://www.winnowed.blogspot.in/2012/07/book-review-eaten-by-japanese-memoir-of.html And an older review by the erudite Professor of English Barry Fruchter, which was locked up in a storage facility in the New York region: please click on Page 1 and then Page 2 below. Exceptionally sensitive, detailed and sophisticated review:  Below is Page 2. Please click on the image below, and clicking on CTRL + until you zoom in to read the text,, however, I also provide a quote below this. Quotes from the review above: "More than any book in recent memory, Eaten by the Japanese  drives home the lasting effects of enforced captivity – not only on the bodies but also on the minds of the prisoners. It is almost totally devoid of xenophobia directed either at the Japanese enslavers or at the British imperial military masters in whose name t...