Hello everyone,
 
I have just joined the list. I am an Indian writer-journalist and I write on various issues.
I have also just launched a weekly e-zine on book reviews. I am appending below the brief editorial I carried in the first issue.
Should anyone want to subscribe s/he can sent a blank mail to [log in to unmask] Should anyone have written a book in the recent past, and want to get it reviewed by our panel of experts, do get in touch with me personally. 

Regards to one and all. And looking forward to interacting with you only on issues that are pertinent/relevant to this list.
 
Subir Ghosh
 
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Editor's note in The Reviewer 1.1
 
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A REVIEW BY ANY OTHER NAME

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That you are reading this means the first chapter of "The Reviewer" has been written. But like all good books, all that has gone into the creation of this e-zine cannot pass unwritten, unsaid. These 500-odd words intend to be a tiny preface to the birth of this cyber publication. All these days, it seemed doomed to be nothing more than an informal mailing list that I sent out to my friends, sometimes off and on, other times on and off. Those abroad wanted to know more about books published in India. Many here did not have a clue about books brought out elsewhere. This is where I put in my bit. I bridged a gap. The gesture was not only well-appreciated, it did more than that — it served the purpose that book reviews are supposed to. 

My reviews made it into the good books of many. The response was overwhelming —the word started spreading by mouth. More and more readers the globe over wanted me to put them on my mailing list. That, I did. Things started falling into place for good. I, myself, could not lag behind. My readers’ wishes and desires had to be my command. I had to fall in line. And here is the result — the content of what was till yesterday, an output of, literally, one’s (at times, perfunctory) whims and fancies, today has been given a form — "The Reviewer", your weekly e-zine of book reviews.

The only aspect, perhaps, that had to be decided upon was the name. Thinking of appellations, more often than not, end up as self-indulgent exercises in flaunting one’s command over the language. Quite needlessly so. Yes, one did fall into that verbiage-trap, albeit momentarily. But, it was here that one’s moorings as a journalist had to suit the action to the word. The fanciful, the jazzy and the "different" became anathema. The essence of anything, especially writing, one recollected, remains in simplicity. The simplest for book reviews sounded something like "The Reviewer". And so it was.

The name decided, there was another veritable snare that one had to watch out for — that of making tall promises. This e-zine desists from making solemn, hypocritical pledges. The reason is as simple — there is nothing that one would want to promise. If anything, "The Reviewer" has a commitment —not promises— to keep. It is against junk non-fiction (read, infotainment) and pulp fiction that is being unabashedly promoted by a host many periodicals all over. There is little or no room for serious reading. The cyber world knows no frontier. For us here, there is room for everything except trash. Yet, we will not be catering to experts only. Downright text books too are not meant for "The Reviewer". 

Do keep us informed. Without your views, opinions and suggestions, this e-zine might well end up as another run-of-the-mill publication that toys around with books and readers. It is the involvement and commitment to serious subjects that has kept my spirit alive. Let us, together, keep the fire burning.

Yours truly.

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