Wayword & Wise

Wayword & Wise An independent and curated bookstore in Fort, Mumbai. Free shipping across India!

"But it is words that make the trouble and confusion. We are asked now to consider words as useful in only one way: as s...
12/05/2023

"But it is words that make the trouble and confusion. We are asked now to consider words as useful in only one way: as signs. Our philosophers, some of them, would have us agree that a word (sentence, statement) has value only in so far as it has one single meaning, points to one fact that is comprehensible to the rational intellect, logically sound, and—ideally—quantifiable.

Apollo, the god of light, of reason, of proportion, harmony, number—Apollo blinds those who press too close in worship. Don’t look straight at the sun. Go into a dark bar for a bit and have a beer with Dionysios, every now and then.

I talk about the gods; I am an atheist. But I am an artist too, and therefore a liar. Distrust everything I say. I am telling the truth."

- Ursula Le Guin, "The Left Hand of Darkness".

Frank Herbert's Dune collection is a masterpiece of science fiction that has stood the test of time. Set in a complex an...
06/04/2023

Frank Herbert's Dune collection is a masterpiece of science fiction that has stood the test of time. Set in a complex and intricate universe, the series explores themes of politics, religion, ecology, and human nature. The first book, Dune, is a sweeping epic that introduces readers to the harsh desert planet of Arrakis and its coveted spice, while subsequent books delve deeper into the complex power struggles between noble houses and religious factions. Herbert's prose is rich and immersive, creating a world that feels alive and vivid.
Overall, the Dune collection is a must-read for any fan of science fiction or epic storytelling.
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Had a fun conversation about q***r reading on Saturday and we’re still thinking about it. Q***r fluff like ‘Heartstopper...
29/03/2023

Had a fun conversation about q***r reading on Saturday and we’re still thinking about it. Q***r fluff like ‘Heartstopper’ as opposed to serious q***r literature (Baldwin, Feinberg et al.), the Indian q***r experience and the diversity that means representation fits some people and not others. It’s always an interesting vein of conversation because it demands that we interrogate our expectations from our community and ourselves. That’s why we want to talk about Jean Genet, whose works are beautiful but difficult. Genet was many things: criminal, vagabond, playwright, novelist and activist. He writes about bisexual men who murder their lovers for fun and profit, the homosexual hierarchy of prison and a life that folds in on itself in complex ways. There is no passivity in Genet, no distance from darkness. He is worth the effort it takes to understand him. Come pick him up and join the q***r reading discourse at Wayword and Wise!

A Saturday evening love poem for you. Bob Hicok teaches at Virginia Tech and most of his poetry makes us feral. He had n...
25/03/2023

A Saturday evening love poem for you. Bob Hicok teaches at Virginia Tech and most of his poetry makes us feral. He had no formal training as a poet until after he had published four books of poetry, after which he earned an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Hicok is direct, vivid and uxorious. In a poem that attempts to unravel antisemitism in America, he returns again and again to his Jewish wife’s freckles and the shape of her body in the moonlight. Made for lovers to read.

It is World Poetry Day! We want to tell you two things today. The first is that we are offering 15% off on all poetry fr...
21/03/2023

It is World Poetry Day! We want to tell you two things today. The first is that we are offering 15% off on all poetry from Thursday through Sunday. The second is that all this week we will be profiling poets we love and want to share with you, starting with Constantine P. Cavafy. Forster will tell you he is standing motionless at a slight angle to the universe. He is variously described as haunting, grave and ironic. Cavafy longs for lost things, always and everywhere. His work recreates a lost Greece: Mark Antony at the window, his luck run out, bidding Alexandria farewell; Caesarion, murdered and forgotten; the people of a city-state waiting for barbarians who do not come (worse, somehow, because their arrival had promised a solution). His philosophy is simple and affecting: there is no escaping the truth of things with Cavafy. You are what you are. He is a gentleman in a straw hat standing at an angle to the universe, writing poems that capture his desire for men. Tender, shadowy and doomed. In a more perfect world, he says, someone just like me will live freely. He is hiding in plain sight. Come and find him.

It is Annie Ernaux season everywhere (rightly so) but we want to turn your attention to Jamaica Kincaid, a different poi...
17/03/2023

It is Annie Ernaux season everywhere (rightly so) but we want to turn your attention to Jamaica Kincaid, a different point on the same spectrum. Like Ernaux, Kincaid skirts the line between memoir and autofiction. She is a treasure of a writer – dark and complex, moving and questing. She grew up in Antigua and writes about post-colonialism, the peculiar intensity of mother-daughter relationships, imperialism, sexuality – all the mess of being alive in the world. Somehow there is a bright core of strength in her women. Read her and change your life.

Here is a very specific subgenre of crime fiction that we enjoy: murder mysteries set in the 17th and 18th centuries. Th...
15/03/2023

Here is a very specific subgenre of crime fiction that we enjoy: murder mysteries set in the 17th and 18th centuries. These three thrillers, set in London and Paris, see their fictional detectives navigate a modernising world, court politics and filthy streets alike. Gripping, immersive and well-researched, they are the marriage of two noble houses (Very Particular About Historical Detail and Is There Enough Murder In This), alike in dignity. Try them the next time you want to read something new!

Ask us what links these books together and we’ll stumble over ourselves telling you about that funny little thread. Thes...
14/03/2023

Ask us what links these books together and we’ll stumble over ourselves telling you about that funny little thread. These books are about people; the protagonist of Sankar’s novel (based on Sankar himself) works at the Shahjahan Hotel in Kolkata. He watches painful, tender and funny human stories play out and overlap, link and repeat. Barbery’s novel is more intensely philosophical, but no less interesting: a working class receptionist who pretends to be vacuous forms a connection with a well-off twelve year-old girl who lives in the same apartment building, leading them to bond over the selves they keep hidden from everybody else. There’s so much more to them, particularly if you enjoy bittersweet stories and themes of class. Give them a try today!



Please tag Arunava Sinha in the post too. 😊 He translated Chowringhee from Bengali.

There’s a job opening at Wayword and Wise for a bookstore manager. If you know somebody that is people-friendly, interes...
13/03/2023

There’s a job opening at Wayword and Wise for a bookstore manager. If you know somebody that is people-friendly, interested in literature and willing to research what they don’t know, and has experience successfully executing projects with minimal supervision, please send them this post.



There’s no strict vision of the ideal candidate; the bookstore follows the form and interests of the person in the chair. This is a full-time job. They will be responsible for curation, sales and profitability, customer satisfaction, inventory management, literary event planning and ex*****on, and everything else to do with the bookstore. They will have support in accounting, infrastructure and logistics as needed. They will also be fairly compensated with participation in the store’s business.



I can tell you from my personal experience that it is a uniquely beautiful job, and I care deeply about handing it over to the right person. So if you’re reading this, please help Wayword and Wise by sending this to somebody you think would be right for the job. They can write to me at [email protected] with their CV and some information about them. I will get back to them soon.

Thank you for supporting your local bookstore and come by soon!

Some Friday afternoon literary history for you: legendary Urdu writer Ismat Chughtai was also a screenwriter and filmmak...
13/03/2023

Some Friday afternoon literary history for you: legendary Urdu writer Ismat Chughtai was also a screenwriter and filmmaker. She wrote scripts and co-founded a production house with her husband, Shaheed Latif. Her decades in the film industry led her to write about her experiences and gave us some of the finest, most painful portraits of life in the movie business. 'Masooma' is about an innocent young woman who becomes a commodity in Bombay. Not a person or a star, only a thing to be bought and sold by men; in trying to ensure that she and her mother survive all this, she guarantees their moral decay. 'A Very Strange Man' is said to be based on the life of Guru Dutt and is about an actor's passionate love for a young dancer from Madras. This love affair makes his wife, a well-known playback singer, sink into alcoholism. Both of these stories are tragic and honest in Chughtai's characteristically bold way. Try them if you've only read 'Lihaaf/The Quilt'! In spite of the tragic vein that runs through them, these are delightful and empathetic novels.
Come and see why Chughtai deserves the praise she gets.

In the common imagination, paradise is a walled garden. To us, paradise is our bookstore.
08/03/2023

In the common imagination, paradise is a walled garden. To us, paradise is our bookstore.

We've talked a lot about fiction and poetry lately, so here are some fun picks from our history and non-fiction section,...
08/03/2023

We've talked a lot about fiction and poetry lately, so here are some fun picks from our history and non-fiction section, ranging from odd little microhistories to journalism and more academic work. If you have never tried history or non-fiction, these may be a good place to start!

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Wayword & Wise, Strategic House, 44 Mint Road, Fort
Mumbai
400001

Opening Hours

Monday 11am - 7pm
Tuesday 11am - 7pm
Wednesday 11am - 7pm
Thursday 11am - 7pm
Friday 11am - 7pm
Saturday 11am - 7pm
Sunday 11am - 7pm

Telephone

+919321450393

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