A bunch of shorts either set in the East or the West or a mixture of the two, in a variety of settings both past and present, and with a lovely whimsical feel to several of them. ( )

This is a collection of stories split into 3 sections, East, West, and East West. The stories are written in a variety of styles, one is an alternative version of Hamlet, packed with puns and wit, while some of the other stories are more serious, and convey a moral message. One of these, titled the Auction of the Ruby Slippers, or something like that, is a surreal story, with a thinly veiled warning against consumerism. Another story shows the difficulty foreigners have in identifying with two conflicting cultures, while others deal with diverse themes including the strange relationship between Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain, and another is concerned the supernatural effects of the theft of a prophets hair. There are only 9 stories in this short (211p) book, some longer than others, but they are all poingant. It will be worth rereading these stories again, in the future, as there is probably hidden meaning in some of them, and they are well written. It would have been nice if the book were a bit longer, but those wanting something more substantial can look to one of his novels for that. This is something a bit different, and should be found refreshing for Rushdie fans who have only read his novels so far. ( )

East, West is organized into three chapters: three stories in "East" include a play on the business of fake passports, one young man's loss of faith in the government and their sterility program, and the curse of the Prophet Muhammad's hair. Three stories in "West" include a play on Hamlet, a futuristic auction of Dorothy's ruby slippers, and a historical imagining of Columbus's bizarre love affair with Isabella. "East, West"'s stories feature pairs of characters from England and India.

The connection to the characters was stronger for me in stories like "Good Advice is Rarer than Rubies" where Rushdie wasn't mining literary characters or historical/religious figures for material. Although I loved "Chekov and Zulu" because, well, Star Trek. ( )

A book of short stories in which the characters are torn between Indian and British cultures. There is a curious strew of tarnished tokens of Western culture: the Flintstones, Neil Sedaka, Jimmy Greaves, Star Trek and so on. My favourite story is Free Radio, where Ramani, the rickshaw-driver, throws away his youth on a opportunistic widow and the Government promise of a first-class, battery-operated transistor radio. I also enjoyed Harmony of the Spheres, a tale of paranoid schizophrenia finally tucked away in a Welsh country cottage.

The protagonist in The Courter, having witnessed the full circle of romance between Certainly-Mary and Mixed-Up, fights against the choice between East and West.

There is a misrepresentation of assertion in our culture that glorifies the decisive and mocks the irresolute. As though wisdom strode alongside certitude and confidence.

Blessed are the indecisive, as long as they are not also the incurious. ( )

either ya love the guy, or ya don't. i love the guy. ( )