Call it coincidence if you will, but the last minute decision of choosing to buy this book after sniffing every corner of the oxford bookstore with 200 bucks in my pocket, seems like divine intervention right now. “May I Hebb Your Attention Pliss” by bong cum blogger cum author Arnab Ray of greatbong.net was just the book that I needed to read to recharge my sarcasti-battery with fresh green renewable non-polluting energy.

Published by Harper Collins as Non-Fiction/Humor, this book is 237 pages of raw sarcasm. The author starts off with a few pages of formulaic commercialism as to why you need to read the book along with three testimonials from its satisfied readers/customers (fictional) and followed by a ‘nut’-shell introduction about what the book is all about. All this is just an appetizer for the happy meal that is to follow. The contents page tells you about the 14 chapters of the book with an amusing line for each.

The first chapter “Great National Terror Strategy”, is one of my favorites where the author Arnab Ray stereotypes how a terror strike on india is followed by the same conventional loop of media frenzy, people’s agitations, politicians announcing relief packages, etc. before people forget about it and another terror strike follows. It sets the tone for the rest of the pages of the book, such that you’ll know that beyond all the humor and sarcasm, every single line has an ironical similarity with reality. My second favorite chapter is “An Indian Wedding” where the author narrates the story of how he went through his own wedding’s ceremonial procedures, not depriving us of all the witty yet dumb thoughts that he had on his mind.

The rest of the chapters are also fun to read as he talks about how the toilet flush is something that annoys him the most, and reveals his arcane secrets about how you can start a management institute or a television serial of your own.

Overall, it’s a fun read for a pastime. If you’re planning on a long journey or having a hectic week at the work field, you might want to try this out. Its light reading, for the light hearted times. And it ends on a nice note too, summing it all up to the fact that everyone in this world is clawing for attention. And so, the name of the book.

Uphills:
1.       1. Loads of humor.
2.       2. Nicely stereotyped a lot of things about life – NRIs to Sexual issues.
3.       3. Everything is in accordance to the theme of the book, i.e., everything tastes humor – from the introduction to the epilogue.
Downhills:
1.       1. Not something you’d want to read at a stretch as the light humor tends to become boring at times.

Xeno Rating: 7/10
Category: Non-Fiction Humor