RAJI WRITES

“Cut. If not, shorten.” Anita Desai wrote these words in the margins of an early draft of her daughter Kiran Desai’s latest book,  The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny  (Hogarth, Sept 2025.) This was after the author had cut down a staggering 5000-page manuscript to a still-hefty 1000. Yet, at 688 pages, the published version is still too long, in this reader’s opinion.  Desai discussed the book, which has been shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize, at a Sept. 21 event at  Keple

"Young historian" Manu S. Pillai is a historian and author whose work reimagines Indian history through vivid storytelling and...

The Henna Artist was released just when the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown began, and author Alka Joshi's book events switched to a virtual...

Silicon Valley Reads had chosen “Journey to New Beginnings” as its 2023 theme. One of the books selected to showcase this theme is The...

Margaret Atwood, Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, and winner of two Booker Prizes among other honors, graced Stanford’s Memorial...

The COVID-19 crisis has dealt a staggering blow to the performing arts. Theaters have had to close. As have concert halls, including...

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni named many modern themes: the MeToo movement, single motherhood, and victim shaming as she spoke about Sita, the narrator of her new book “The Forest of Enchantments.” The Ramayana is the story of the great King Rama. But what of his wife Sita, daughter of King Janak, princess of Mythila, rightfully queen of Ayodhya? Sita, who endured much insult and suffering, who was banished by her husband even though she was blameless, because of gossip among hi

Salman Rushdie describes the opioid crisis in his new book, "Quichotte." He had researched it for years following a family tragedy. His...

My first experience with Zoom video conferencing was in a Stanford Continuing Studies class. In the spring of 2016, I decided to take an...

One of the great joys of living near Stanford University is access to many outstanding events that are open to the community. One such...

Silicon Valley Reads “is an annual community program that selects books focused on a contemporary theme and offers free events throughout...

"Welcome to your intellectual home!" These were the warm words of President Kathleen McCartney as she welcomed an auditorium filled with...

The past few weeks have brought jolting news of deaths by suicide, of fashion designer Kate Spade, celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, and...