Bookless in Baghdad ~ Shashi Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor’s Bookless in Baghdad (2005) is a collection of 40 essays blending memoir, literary criticism, and reflections on the role of books in society. It is divided into thematic sections rather than conventional chapters, each exploring different aspects of reading, writing, and the literary world.

The book covers:

• Love of Reading: Tharoor recalls reading a book a day in his youth, moving across genres with passion.
• Indian Identity & Literature: Essays explore how Indian writers in English represent diversity and complexity.
• Criticism & Review Culture: He critiques book reviewers and the literary establishment.
• Global Literary Encounters: Reflections on festivals, writers, and the universality of literature.
• Books in Crisis: The title essay highlights how books become lifelines in war-torn societies.

The book is organized into five major sections, each containing multiple essays:

Part I: Inspirations: (6 essays)

Essays in this section explore Tharoor’s personal relationship with books and the formative influences on his literary journey.

• Growing Up with Books – Recounts his childhood habit of devouring a book a day, shaping his imagination. It begins with Enid Blyton and her books
• Revenging Rudyard, Subverting Scarlett
• The Mahabharata and Me – Reflects on how India’s great epic influenced his worldview and literary sensibility.
• Why Literature Matters – Argues for the enduring importance of literature in shaping identity and values.

It throws light and introduces many of the book written by him. 

Part II: Reconsiderations: (10 essays)

This section covers:

• Woodhouse and India, 
• Malcolm Muggeridge, 
• Winston Churchill, The Spy who stayed out in the cold, 
• Remembering Pushkin, 
• The committed Poet: Pablo Neruda Remembered, 
• Speaking ill of the dead: Nirad Chaudhuri, 
• R.K. Narayan's comedies of suffering, 
• The Enigma of Being V. S. Naipaul, 
• Salman Rushdie: The Ground Beneath his feet. 

Here Tharoor discusses his encounters with writers, critics, and the act of writing itself.

Part III: The Literary Life (12 Essays)

This covers Rushdie's reappearance, Illiteracy in America, Great American Literary Illusion, On Literary Festivals – Observations on the culture of book fairs and festivals.

The Writer’s Life – Explores the challenges of balancing writing with professional obligations.

Critics and Reviewers – A sharp critique of the reviewing culture, questioning its fairness and relevance.

What stayed with me is a British academic once growling to him "Americans don't know the difference between wanting to read a book and wanting a book to read."

Part IV: Appropriations: (8 Essays)

This section is more analytical, focusing on Indian writing in English and broader literary criticism.Indian Writing in English – Examines the diversity and evolution of Indian authors writing in English. The Global Reader – Considers how Indian literature is received abroad.

The Role of the Novel – Reflects on the novel as a form of cultural storytelling in modern India.

Essays here connect literature with society, politics, and cultural identity. Books and Nationhood – How literature contributes to national identity. The Public Intellectual – The role of writers in shaping public discourse. The Pornography of poverty 'City of Joy'. 

My favourite was Homage in Huesca - where he and his wife went to Huesca to have a coffee, a remember George Orewell. Quotes of Many color, 'The Enquire Dictionary of Quotations' T.J.S. George, and quotes from India contrary to 'The Oxford dictionary of quotations.'

Part V: Interrogations: (3 Essays)

The title section contains the most poignant essays, including the famous title piece Bookless in Baghdad. Bookless in Baghdad – Describes Iraq under sanctions, where books were scarce and often sold from personal libraries to survive. It highlights the symbolic importance of literature in times of crisis. The Power of Books in Conflict Zones – Explores how books become lifelines in war-torn societies.

Others are 'Globalization and Human Imagination', says the globalization of Diana's death, and how 'Terrorism emerges from blind hatred on an Other, and that in turn is the product of three factors: fear, range and incomprehension. Fear of what the Other might do to you, rage at what you believe the Other has done to you, and incomprehension about who or what the other really is - these three elements fuse together in igniting the deadly combustion that kills and destroys people whose only sin is that they feel none of these things themselves. If terrorism is to be tackled and ended, we will have to deal with each of these three factors by attacking the ignorance that sustains them. We will have to know each other better, lean to see ourselves as others see us, learn to recognize hatred and deal with its causes, learn to dispel fear, and above all just learn about each other. 

'The Anxiety of Audience'. Final Reflections – Concludes with Tharoor’s belief in the transformative power of literature across cultures and how words once out belong to the readers. Its like how the cow give milk. 

Bookless in Baghdad is not a linear narrative but a mosaic of essays grouped into five thematic parts. It captures Tharoor’s lifelong engagement with books, his critique of literary culture, and his belief in the transformative power of literature.