Selected Pre-1980 Reviews
This section contains scanned copies of some of the many reviews garnered by G.V. Desani's books, as well as some interesting biographical articles. Note the pivotal role played by the editors of The Illustrated Weekly of India in drawing attention to Desani and his writings.
Note: This section can take some time to load, particularly on slower systems. The quality of some of the scanned articles is poor. Each scanned article is a ".pdf" which can be viewed in a separate tab or window. To do so simply click the "Pop-out" icon in the upper-right corner of the article's image.
1950s
"First 10 Reviews"
Undated
Aldor Edition Promotional Piece
Undated
aldor_promopiece-combined.pdfgvd_1st_10_reviews.pdfIllustrated Weekly of India, "London Home of Indian Author"
by Shakuntala Shrinagesh, April 10, 1949
gvd_london_flat_1950s-combined.pdfCentral Railway Magazine, "G.V. Desani's HALI"
unsigned, Oct., 1952
Central Railway Magazine, "A Portrait of a Stylist"
unsigned, Sept., 1952
gvd_railway magazine_1952-0004.pdfrailway_mag_1952-combined.pdf1960s
Illustrated Weekly of India, "Face to Face", by S.V.V.
Feb. 14, 1965
face2face_iwi-combined.pdfIllustrated Weekly of India, "Chiaroscuro"
by A.S.R. (Avadhanam Sita Raman), March 15, 1964
chiaroscuro_ASR_iwi_1964-combined.pdfIllustrated Weekly of India, "Literary Traditions…"
P. Lal, "Literary Traditions - 6 (Final) / Indian Writing in English", Oct. 25, 1964
p_lal_traditions_iwi_combined.pdfIllustrated Weekly of India, "All About G.V. Desani"
by C.R. Mandy, 1964
gvd_mandy_iwi-0002_combined.pdf1970 Reviews
1970_reviews.pdfThe Guardian, "A Masterwork, Damme"
by P.J. Kavanagh, April 16, 1970
gvd_kavanaug_guardian_10_4_1970.pdfThe Scotsman, "Two-faced Comedy"
by Martin Seymour-Smith
scotsman_si-smith.pdfNew Statesman & Nation, "Unpindownable"
by Mary Borg, June 17, 1970
gvd_borg_newstateman_11_6_70.pdfThe Irish Press, "Keep Shooting"
by John Jordan, July 3, 1970
irish_press_1970.pdfNewsweek, " 'Down the Alley, Bung-ho!' "
by S.K. Overbeck, June 22, 1970
newsweek_1970-combined.pdfTime, "Towering Babel"
by Christopher Porterfield, July 20, 1970
time_1970.pdfThe New York Times, "London: A prolonged Cultural Siesta"
by Alan Brien, June 15, 1970
nytimes_brien_1970.pdfGrimsby Evening Telegraph, "Eng.–But Gloriously Impure"
by J.C.W., April 30, 1970
gvd_grimsbyeveningtele_4_3_1970.pdfWashington Star, "A Comic Rarity"
by Day Thorpe, June 21, 1970
wash_star_1970.pdfAustin-American Stateman, "UT's Prof. Desani: Complex, Cultivated – and Contradictory"
by Cynthia Joyce, July 27, 1970
austin_stateman_1970_combined.pdfBeaumont Enterprise and Journal, "Reissued Desani Novel Termed 'Modern Classic' "
by Violette Newton, July 19, 1970
gvd_beaumont_7_19_1970.pdfAustin-American Stateman, "Theravada Buddhism Interest Rises Here"
by Robert Musgrove, March 29, 1970
gvd_stateman_1970-combined.pdfIllustrated Weekly of India, "Not-So-Mad Hatterr"
"Editor's Page", August 2, 1970
gvd_iwi_editorsnote_5_2_1970.pdfAustin-American Statesman, "Books"
by Bill Warren, August 9, 1970
statesman_warren.pdf