Couple of days back Prats made a flying visit to my house to drop the review copies of Urban Shots and Another Chance, it was really sweet of him considering I would have bought Urban Shots 100% anyways as his story was published in it and this much atleast we can do for a friend right 😛 So after he went, N grabbed the book from my hand and reached to Prats story titled “Of Apple Pies and Grey Sweaters” and when he finished it just came and said wow this guy has talent, its a lovely story and this coming from a man who shies away from all things mushy… I was smiling in my head ready to grab the book and enjoy the stories. Next morning when I read Prats story along with my morning cup of coffee I knew this was the book which will probably change my outlook towards short stories a little… Prats take a bow that was such a warm story…
Urban Shots is a compilation of 29 short stories by 13 writers which edited by Paritosh Uttam, who has also 10 stories of his own in the collection. The stories are about love, friendship and relationships in Urban Metro life, the life that we all lead… The stories talk about love, friendship, the friendship that turns to love, infidelity, hope, they talk about liberation, anger and longing… I think in a nutshell they talk about the life around us
The book starts with a story from Kainaz Motival (yeah the one of Wake up Sid) fame. The story “Hope comes in small packages” is nothing extraordinary but is cute that it doesnt fail to put a smile on one’s face…. and moving on with stories the writers cover a wide range of subjects from Malathi Jaikumar’s story “Liberation” which deals with how a woman finds her liberation from domestic abuse to Bishwanath Gosh’s dealing with infidelity in “Morning Showers” to Sahil Khan’s story “The Untouched Guitar” which feels like just another youngster tale till you reach the climax and bear a huge grin to Vrinda Baliga’s “Stick Figures” and “Dialects of Silence” which touch ones heart with a view of a womans life…
All of them are lovely but if I have to pick a favorite I must say I love the Paritosh writes I loved all his stories, they are crisp short and when I read them I somehow always start visualizing and imagining the characters. I start to feel like them 😀 I loved his stories so much so that I had a huge smile on my face each time I would see his name in the authors 🙂 I liked his debut book Dreams in Prussian Blue too but with this Paritosh you have a new fan… and having met him his stories are so different than the person he comes across as…
Last Words : Lovely lovely heartwarming tales of young urban India
Rating 4/5
Book Urban Shots
Authors edited by Paritosh Uttam
Price Rs 145/-
Prats said:
Thanks a lot, for the praise 🙂
And I am absolutely delighted that you found the book good 😀
Phoenixritu said:
I need to buy this one ….
Swaram said:
Nice review Mons with a nice happy feel and ring to it 🙂
Congrats Prats! When r u giving me a book to read and review then 😛 😛
Aathira said:
Sounds like something I should be buying off flipkart right now 🙂
Life Begins said:
Monika – you make books sound soooo lively and wonderful that i want to pick them up right away. Unfortunately i am unable to do so 😦
Now i have another reason added to my list of – why i want to be back home 🙂
Smitha said:
Sounds like a great read! I will definitely pick it up!
Lovely review!
Paritosh Uttam said:
Thanks! Glad you liked the stories.
Pixie said:
I so want to buy this book! 🙂
Will pick it up for sure because another friend was also raving about it 🙂
Bikram said:
I am sure i have read a review of this books earlier also ..
an it seems to be a good book Can i jsut request PRATS to drop one for me tooo PLEASE I can say please twice tooo 🙂
Bikram’s
tikulicious said:
I will certainly pick my copy in a day or two. Thanks for the review Monika.
monika agarwal said:
i need to get back to reading with all your wonderful reviews 🙂
Writerzblock said:
sounds like a good enough read… can’t wait to get a copy. Prats, why don’t you fly down here?
Reema said:
Its on my list!!
Ahmed Faiyaz said:
Thanks for the review, glad you enjoyed reading Urban Shots and Prateek’s story in particular. It’s a beginning for a capable storyteller.
Now await your Another Chance review….
Naman Saraiya said:
🙂
Shuhaib Hameed said:
I am going through it. The opening one is an average one I should say. Reading “Liberation” you can smell the lay man’s chennai life. Well, the anthology of tales from various Indian states is a different concept. There are 29 stories and they are pertaining to 6 states alone and that is an outcoming. Authors from every state should be given a chance.
PRATIK AGRAWAL said:
I have read quite a few short stories like Sudha Murty’s “Wise & Otherwise” and Chicken Soup. I really like them. After reading your review I would definitely go for this book. Title and cover of the book is also very compelling.
Thanks for sharing a wonderful review.
Pratik Agrawal
bastab said:
”For us short story fanatics, this collection was a welcome change from the numerous novels of almost-the-same-plot that we go through on a daily basis. Our hats off to the Grey Oak Publishers for coming out with this idea.”
My review of ‘Urban Shots’ on ‘Between The Lines’
http://unpublisho.wordpress.com/2011/05/14/book-review-urban-shots-a-short-story-collection/
– Bastab Chakraborty
rohit said:
Must be an enjoyable read Urban Shots by Paritosh Uttam. loved the way you wrote it. I find your review very genuine and original, this book is going in by “to read” list.
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Swati said:
hey Monika…dropped on to your blog searching for Urban shots reviews…even I have published a review so would appreciate feedback if you can spare time to read the review: http://perfectskincareforyou.blogspot.in/2012/03/urban-shots-book-review.html