Book review- Urban Shots

I started the book with a lot of expectations because of two reasons. One, I am inordinately fond of short stories and two; this book came with high recommendations. I was disappointed initially as the first two stories failed to keep up to my expectations. But things picked up with Liberation ( Malathi Jaikumar), and from Notes of discord ( Paritosh Uttam) onwards the book  proved to be a worthy read.

The book is a compelling read, touching different facets of urban existence. The anthology has five sections sub-titled love, friendship, relationships, angst and longing; each consisting of an eclectic collection of short stories and straddling a gamut of emotions and feelings. What I particularly liked about the collection is that stories talk of situations and characters which are very real life and easily identifiable, sometimes the very ordinariness of the situation making it an extra-ordinary tale.

This is not a book to be read in a hurry. I would describe it as a cup of my favorite Darjeeling tea rather than a cup of Instant coffee. So the best way would be to sip it slowly, savoring every moment. Some stories are worth reading and re-reading. While the best three stories according to me are Serendipity, Stick figures and The biggest problem; the pick of the authors is undoubtedly Paritosh Uttam.

I would rate the debut book of Grey Oak publications as 3.5/5.

If you want to order a copy of the book on-line, click here.

P.S. And if the editors of this book are reading this, please please please drop me an email asking for a contribution, next time you do another collection of short stories.