
Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss (Hardback)
Rajeev Balasubramanyam (author)- Not available
Professor Chandra is an expert at complex problems. There's just one he can't crack: the secret of happiness In the moments after the bicycle accident, Professor Chandra doesn't see his life flash before his eyes, but his life's work.
He's just narrowly missed out on the Nobel Prize (again) and even though he knows he should get straight back to his pie charts, his doctor has other ideas. All this work. All this success. All this stress. It's killing him. He needs to take a break, start enjoying himself. In short, says his doctor (who is from California), Professor Chandra should just follow his bliss.
He doesn't know it yet, but Professor Chandra is about to embark on the trip of a lifetime.
Publisher: Vintage Publishing
ISBN: 9781784742539
Number of pages: 288
Weight: 407 g
Dimensions: 222 x 144 x 29 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Chandra is a delightful creation: peevish, intolerant, intellectually exacting, unwittingly eccentric, nerdy, needy yet lovable. The book, like its picaresque hero, is a one-off' - The Sunday Times
'Elegant and witty, with a comedy underpinned by humanity. Genuinely uplifting.' - The Times
'I loved this beautiful beautiful book. It's tender and compassionate, written with exquisite care and verve, and so so SO funny.' - Marian Keyes
'Professor Chandra is as acerbic and unbending a curmudgeon as one could wish to find scowling from the pages of a novel. Brilliant, pompous, and baffled by the world outside his Cambridge study, Chandra is forced on a reluctant quest to America to find himself and his family. Searingly funny, uplifting and wonderful.' - Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand
'This brilliant and eloquent novel, which puts into words so many unutterable annoyances, is a sort of Zen satire in which tolerance and understanding mingle with hilarious criticism of contemporary mores. It's a wonderful read.' - Wendy Holden, The Daily Mail
'After the brilliant, stressed, cynical economist Professor Chandra has a serious accident, he is told to take a break and 'follow his bliss' to California. Little does he know he'll discover a thing or two about happiness.' - Elle
'Uplifting literature, or up-lit as it's called by publishers, is dominating the bestseller charts... One of the funniest is Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss by Rajeev Balasubramanyam... Beneath the comedy lie serious concerns. Wellness, capitalism, mollycoddled minds intolerant of political difference: Balasubramanyam's issues are current.' - Francesca Angelini, The Sunday Times
'By turns charming and witty, this is an effortless, uplifting read that has many pertinent observations to make about family relationships.' - Simon Humphreys The Mail on Sunday
'A gentle ride of a book that tackles all of life's big questions and also manages to be very, very funny.' - Red
One of the funniest novels to be released in some time.' - The Sunday Times
'A warm and funny account of one man's attempt to be more chill.' - Francesca Carington, Tatler
'Balasubramanyam demonstrates with insight and a dash of humor that it's possible to turn one's life around after everything goes wrong...makes a winning case for how meditation, restraint, self-reflection and owning one's character flaws can bring joy and satisfaction to life.' - Publishers Weekly
'Rajeev Balasubramanyam wields considerable humor, the perfect antidote to our polarized and exhausting present, while crafting a tender and thoughtful tale. This is an absolute gem of a book.' - Shelf Awareness
'There's a long tradition of trying to describe the spiritual search and the ineffable mystery without sounding like a pretentious snob or a sappy Pollyanna. Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss manages to pull it off. The book tackles perennially difficult and deep questions with humor and humanity, beautiful writing, and a page-turning storyline. I gave myself over to Professor Chandra's journey as he opens himself to self-examination, family healing, and a more courageous experience of being alive.' - Elizabeth Lesser, author of New York Times bestseller Broken Open and Cofounder, Omega Institute
'Heartrending, hilarious, and deeply wise, this novel about the clueless Professor Chandra - emotional blockhead, Cambridge don, and Nobel-wannabe - left me in tears when I wasn't laughing. His crash course in self-realization at 70 reveals how little he actually knows, about himself and the crazy family he loves, and that it's never too late to grow up or follow your bliss wherever it takes you. I could not put this novel down.' - Mark Matousek, author of Sex Death Enlightenment and When You're Falling, Dive
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“Had hoped for humour”
Unfortunately this book wasn't for me. I had hoped from the reviews that it would be funny, or at least have some humour, but I found myself bogged down in the minutiae of university life and economics and gave... More
“Wonderful read!”
Wonderful, gem of a book. I found the book and the character of Professor Chandra extremely funny and he had me laughing at many occasions throughout. However, the laughter didn’t make light of some of the key issues... More
“I really enjoyed this and found it very moving.”
I really enjoyed this book. I had expected it to make me laugh out loud, and actually it didn't, but I wasn't disappointed as it was such a lovely, warm story with such a great main character. It has lovely... More
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