Author(s): Samanth Subramanian

General Travel

This is the best debut travel book to come out of India since William Dalrymple's "City of Djinns" or Suketu Mehta's "Maximum City". In a coastline as long and diverse as India's, fish inhabit the heart of many worlds - food of course, but also culture, commerce, sport, history and society. Journeying along the edges of the peninsula, Samanth Subramanian delivers a kaleidoscope of extraordinary stories. "Following Fish" conducts rich journalistic investigations of, among others, the use of fish to treat asthmatics in Hyderabad; of the preparation and the process of eating West Bengal's prized hilsa; of the ancient art of building fishing boats in Gujarat; of the fiery cuisine and the singular spirit of Kerala's toddy shops; of the food and the lives of Mumbai's first people; of the history of an old Catholic fishing community in Tamil Nadu; and of the hunt for the world's fastest fish near Goa. Pulsating with pleasure, adventure and discovery, and tempered by nostalgia and loss, "Following Fish" reveals a series of unknown Indias in a book as revealing of the subcontinent as any three times its length. It is suitable for readers of William Dalrymple, Suketu Mehta, Pankraj Mishra, and Nigel Slater.