Richard Crasta, Author

After a 15-year period, during much of which I have been disconnected from great literature and art, I found myself been listening to Shakespeare. Not reading, but listening to a few of his monologues, thanks to You Tube. And I am awed by the greatness of such speeches as "There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow." Or: "Now is the winter of our discontent . . ." and poems such as "The Love Song of Alfred Prufrock." Shakespeare, Dickens, Joyce, Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Eliot--so much greatness, such beauty--one sometimes wonders, is there any point in writing? Has it not all been written before? The answer: I write because I must. It may have been written before, but it is not my inner voice, and it's not the way I would write it, or have written it. Everything I have written has my personal stamp on it. It has my DNA all over it (which is why I don't think I am ever likely to be accused of plagiarism). Because, even ...

I have recently decided to make more of my digital books available as paperbacks, as I realize many readers either refuse to read e-books or greatly prefer physical books. I, too, delight in the pleasure of turning pages, making markings, and the smell and feel of a new book; and, deep in my heart, I have always known that the paper book will never die. If I could afford them, I would have both kinds at my disposal. Below, for your convenience (as the search function may not turn up all my books), are the links to my paperbacks on Amazon (also available at a few other sites). However, I would greatly prefer (if you could afford it) that you buy my books direct from Createspace including my " Benny Profane " books, as Amazon and other retailers take a big cut out of an author's royalties, and independent writing is a tough profession for all but the top 1% by sales (who are often very different from the top 1% by quality): FICTION AND NONFICTION: The Last Catholic C...

Press Release: Bangalore, Sept 4, 2010. Former Indian Supreme Court Justice and present Lokayukta Justice Santhosh Hegde, famous and well-loved for being a fearless crusader for integrity and against corruption in Indian public life, will be releasing the new HarperCollins edition of Richard Crasta’s novel “The Revised Kama Sutra” in Bangalore at Reliance Timeout, Cunningham Road, on June 9 at 6:30 pm. Richard Crasta's five other titles, which are almost impossible to find in Indian bookstores, will also be on sale at this Reliance Timeout branch. (The following is partly from the HarperCollins press release) The Revised Kama Sutra created waves when it was first published seventeen years ago, in December 1993, becoming a Viking Penguin bestseller, praised by reviewers as courageous, honest, fresh, and fascinating. Now hailed as a classic, Richard Crasta’s gloriously comic and poignant insight into naive Third World dreamers of the American Dream is a veritable guide to the Indi...