Book Review: Maximum City

Suketu Mehta’s book, Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found , is a perfect example of the good and bad of travel writing. I consider it part of the travel writing genre despite the fact that the writer spent part of his childhood in Bombay because it really is a return and exploration of a place that is only partially the same place the writer left many years earlier. It is an exploration of a place in the way that all good travel writing should be. His writing is superb and by following the stories of individuals and himself he paints a protrait of the city that is complex and fascinating. His focus on communal tensions and his interviews with those at the center of those troubles, his descriptions of the trials and tribulations in the Country of No, his ability to talk with and befriend both the ultra-rich and famous and those eking out a living at the bottom of Bombay’s financial ladder are among the highlights in a book that is a must-read for those interested in that city or are more generally interested in this style of non-fiction.

The Cat’s Meow

The Cat’s Meow is a bar/restaurant on Granville Island. For those of you who don’t know Vancouver, Granville Island is a pseudo-island (just look at a map , it is *not* surrounded by water, which to me is a pretty basic definition of “island”) that is home to a variety of art galleries, shops, a major art school, a food market, theatres and a few bars, cafes and restaurants. My friend BV and I were looking for someplace we could sit outside, enjoy some drinks and light food, and catch up since it has been a while since we’ve seen each other. He’d been to the Cat’s Meow before and since I had never gone to Granville other than to go to the market and look at some of the shops, I figured it would be a good opportunity to see what kind of nightlife it offered.