Synopses & Reviews
Arundhati Roy —"India’s most impassioned critic of globalization" (New York Times)—has expanded the compelling first edition of Power Politics with two new essays on the U.S. war on terrorism. A Book Sense 76 choice for November/December 2001 and Los Angeles Times "Discoveries" selection, Power Politics challenges the idea that only experts can speak out on such urgent matters as nuclear war, the privatization of India’s power supply by U.S.-based energy companies, and the construction of monumental dams in India.
Arundhati Roy, the internationally acclaimed author of The God of Small Things, brings her keen novelist’s eye to her analysis of the tragic events of September 11 and the military response, starting with the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan.
Review
The novelist Arundhati Roy
has emerged as India's most impassioned critic of globalization and American influence." New York Times
Review
"Arundhati Roy's essays evoke a stark image of two Indias being driven 'resolutely in opposite directions,' a small India on its way to a 'glittering destination' while the rest 'melts into the darkness and disappears' a microcosm of much of the world, she obeserves, though 'in India your face is slammed right up against it.' Traced with sensitivity and skill, the unfolding picture is interlaced with provocative reflections on the writer's mission and burden, and inspiring accounts of the 'spectacular struggles' of popular movements that 'refuse to lie down and die.' Another impressive work by a fine writer." Noam Chomsky
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"[T]he author of the acclaimed novel The God of Small Things returns to the subject she first explored in The Cost of Living: what she sees as the iniquity of globalization and the dangers of privatization....Although her passion and agitation on these issues is commendable, her writing lacks analysis, and her generalized outrage and hyperbole make much of her criticism wooden. She tends to switch between issues of trade and her fame, losing the reader. The three pieces seem thrown together haphazardly, with no editorial explanation of how they originated (all are available on the Web) or in what context." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Writers have proved when they turn their back to power and start to feel the pulse and pain of society, they become powerful. This is the power beyond power that Arundhati Roy brings forth in Power Plitics." Vandana Shiva
Review
"Arundhati Roy combines her brilliant style as a novelist with her powerful commitment to social justice in producing these eloquent, penetrating essays." Howard Zinn
Synopsis
Arundhati Roy, the author of The God of Small Things, explores the politics of writing and the price of "development" driven by profit. Roy challenges the idea that only "experts" can speak out on such urgent matters as nuclear war, the human costs of the privatization of India's power supply by U.S.-based energy companies, and the construction of monumental dams in India. Includes new essays written since September 11.
Synopsis
Politics, Arundhati Roy challenges the idea that only "experts" can speak out of such urgent matters as the globalization of the world economy, the privatization of India's power supply by U.S. based energy companies, and the construction of monumental dams that will dislocate hundreds of thousands of people. Roy takes us to the frontlines of struggles for social justice and humane, democratic future.
Synopsis
Roy explores the politics of writing, the costs of development, and the U.S. war on terrorism.
About the Author
Arundhati Roy is the author of The God of Small Things, which won the prestigious Booker Prize and has become an internationally acclaimed best-seller and The Cost of Living, called "brilliant reportage with a passionate, no-holds-barred commentary" (Salman Rushdie). Born in 1961 in Bengal, Arundhati Roy grew up in Kerala and trained as an architect.