Shobha De

Shobha De (b. 1948), was born in Maharashtra, and did her education in Delhi and Bombay. After graduating with a degree in psychology from St. Xavier's, she began her career as a journalist in the 1970s.

She is rarely out of the news, be it as the first editor of gossipy magazines Stardust or Society, as a socialite, or for her best selling novels. Her novels, racy and raunchy in style and content, are trashed by serious critics, but the numbers they sell make her one of the most widely read English novelists in India.

Shobha De has seen it all: life as a model, a copywriter, a journalist, a socialite, a scriptwriter, a novelist, a busy mother (she has six children) among other things, and will continue to make or report news.

Works

• Strange Obsession - 1992
• Snapshots - 1995
• Second Thoughts - 1996
• Selective Memory: Stories from My Life
• Surviving Men - 1997
• Speedpost - 1999
• Sultry Days - 1994
• Starry Nights - 1991
• Sisters - 1992
• Socialite Evenings  1989

Arora, Neena: "An Analytical Study of Sisters." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.216-9.

Barat, Urbashi: "From Victim to Non-Victim: Socialite Evenings as a Version of Kunstlerroman." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.1 19-28.

Barche, G.D.: "Maya: Another Eve in Second Thoughts." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.272-80.

Barua, Geeta: "Rise & Fall of a Star: a Study of Starry Nights." In Indian Women Novelists, Set III, Vol.1. R.K. Dhawan (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 1995), pp.199-202; in The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.174-9.

Bhatt, Indira. " Shobha De’s Sultry Days & Gita Mehta’s A River Sutra: A study in Orientalism." In Indian Women Novelists, Set III, Vol.1 R.K. Dhawan (ed.). New Delhi: Prestige, 1995, 38-53.

Bhatt, Indira: "Shobba De’s Sultry Days & Gita Mehta’s A River Sutra: a Study in Orientalism." In Indian Women Novelists, Set III, Vol.1. R.K. Dhawan (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 1995), pp.48-53; in The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.98-107.

Bose, Mandakranta. "Faces of the Feminine in Ancient, Medieval, and Modern India." Oxford University Press, 2000.

Chakravarty, Gautam: "Anthologized Resurrections: Small Betrayals." The Book Review 19:9 (Sep 1995), pp.37-8.

Chandra, Subhash. "The Image of Man in Gloria Naylor’s The Women of Brewster Place & Shobha De’s Socialite Evenings." In Indian Women Novelists, Set I, Vol.1. R.K. Dhawan (ed.). (New Delhi: restige, 1991), pp.228-34; in The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.86-91.

Chandra, Subhash. " Family & Marriage in Socialite Evenings." In Indian Women Novelists, Set I, Vol.1, R.K. Dhawan (ed.). New Delhi: Prestige, 1991, 242-250.

Chandra, Subhash. "Family & Marriage in Socialite Evenings." In Indian Women Novelists, Set I, Vol.1. R.K. Dhawan (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 1991), pp.242-SO; in The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.142-8.

Chandra, Subhash. "The image of man in Gloria Naylor’s The Women of Brewster Place & Shobha De’s Socialite Evenings." In Indian Women Novelists, Set.I, Vol.1, R.K. Dhawan (ed.) New Delhi: Prestige, 1991, 228-234.

Chowdhury, Neel "Second Thoughts. Far Eastern Economic Review, 2 May 1996: 54.

Das, Bijay Kumar. " The author & the text: A study of Shobha De’s Snapshots." In Indian fiction of the Nineties. R.S. Pathak (ed.). New Delhi: Creative, 1997, 165-170.

Das, Bijay Kumar: "The Author & the Text: a Study of Shobha De’s Snapshots." In Indian Fiction of the Nineties. R.S. Pathak (ed.). (New Delhi: Creative, 1997), pp.165-70.

Dash, Sandhyarani. "A Woman More Sinned Than Sinning: A Study of Starry Nights." In The Fiction of Shobha De Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). New Delhi: Prestige, 2000, 167-73.

Dodiya, Jaydipshinh & R.K. Dhawan: "The Fiction of Shobha De: an Introduction." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). New Delhi: Prestige, 2000, 11-20.

Dodiya, Jaydipshinh (ed.) "Second Thoughts: A Critique." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). New Delhi: Prestige, 2000, 281-289.

Dodiya, Jaydipshinh (ed.): The Fiction of Shobha De. New Delhi:Prestige, 2000.

Dwyer, Rachel: "‘Starry Nights’: The Novels of Shobha De." In (Un) Writing Empire. Theo D’haen (ed.). Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1998, 117-33.

Ghosh, Bishnupriya. "When Borne across: Literary cosmopolitics in the contemporary Indian Novel." Rutgers University Press, 2004.

Jha, Subhash K.: "A New De Dawns: Small Betrayals." Indian Review of Books 4:7, 16 May-15 Jun 1995,21-32

Kaganoff, Penny "Paperbacks -- Socialite Evenings by Shobha De. Publishers Weekly, 26 Apr. 1991: 55.

Kasture, P.S. "Selective Memory: a Study in Autobiography." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), 335-356.

Khan, A.G. "Liberated or Libidinous: Women Writing in English." In Indian Women Novelists, Set III, Vol.1. R.K. Dhawan (ed.). New Delhi:Prestige, 1993, 33-38

Khan, A.G. "Shobba De’s ‘Vatsyayani’." hi Fiction of the Nineties. Veena Noble Dass & R.K. Dhawan (eds.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 1994), A7-50; in Indian Women Novelists, Set III, Vol.1. R.K. Dhawan (ed.). New Delhi:Prestige, 1995, 78-82.

Khare, Asha "The Text & Context: Shobha De’s Second Thoughts." In Indian Fiction of the Nineties. R.S. Pathak (ed.). New Delhi: Creative, 1997, 171-176

Kumar, Gajendra "Strange Obsession: a Critical Study." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). New Delhi: Prestige, 2000, 227-32.

Kumar, Sanjay "Two Aspects of Feminism: the Expressive & the Explosive." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), 51-61.

Kumar, Sudhir "Artist as Vamp: a Feminist Approach to Starry Nights." In Indian Women Novelists, Set III, Vol.1. R.K. Dhawan (ed.). New Delhi: Prestige, 1995, 111-25; in The Fiction of Shobha De.Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). New Delhi: Prestige, 2000, 187-199.

Lata, Pushpa "A Protest Among the Patriarchal in Shobha De’s Works." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), 62-68.

Lent, John A. "Women and mass communications in the 1990’s: An International, Annotated Bibliography." Greenwood Press, 1999.

Madge, V.M. "Shobha De’s Starry Nights." In Critical Essays on Indian Women Writing in English. A.S. Ratnani (ed.). New Delhi: Harman Publishing House, 1999, 30-40.

Madge, V.M. "Towards Masala Fiction: Shobha De’s Starry Nights." The Journal of Indian Writing in English 26:1 (1998), 30-8.

Malhotra, Paven. "Bytes, Bombs, and Bombshells." Harvard International Review, 2001, 23.

Misra, Chittaranjan: "Shobha De on Shobha De: Autobiographic Strategies in Selective Memory." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.328-34.

Monti, Alessandro: "Shakti Unleashed in Muppyland: Shobha De & the Making of Modem India." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.27-33.

Nayar, Pramod K.: "Socialite Evenings: Toward a Feminist Stance." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi:Prestige, 2000), pp.108-18.

Pandeya, Prabhat Kumar: "Tender, Beautiful & Erotic: Lesbianism in Starry Nights." In Indian Women Novelists, Set III, Vol.1. R.K. Dhawan (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 1995), pp.126-36; in The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.200-9.

Pathak, R.S.: "Feminist Concerns in Shobha De’s Work: a Study in Attitudes." In Modern Indian Novel in English. R.S. Pathak. (New Delhi: Creative, 1999), pp. I47-61; in The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.34-50.

Prakash, Nirmala C. "Selective Memory: a Reflective Response." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.357-62.

Rani, G. Sheela Swarupa: "The Quest That Led to Take Decisions: Socialite Evenings." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.160-6.

Rao, Bhargavi P.: "From Purdah to Popular Culture: Anees Jung’s Unveiling India & Shobha De’s Socialite Evenings." In Indian Women Novelists, Set I, Vol.1. R.K. Dhawan (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 1991), pp.235-41; in The Fiction of Shobba De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.92-7.

Rashid, Ahmed "Hot stuff. " Far Eastern Economic Review 2 May 1996: 50.

Samanta, Somayajit: "Against Marginalisation of Indian Woman: A Feminist Reading of Shobha De’s Socialite Evenings." In Feminism & Indian English Fiction. P.M. Nayak & S.P. Swain (eds.). (Bareilly: Prakash Book Depot, 1996), pp.75-83.

Satyanarayana, E.: "The Dialectics of Self-Assertion: the Liberated Woman in Sisters." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.210-5.

Saxena, Alka. "Second Thoughts: a Slice of Urban Life." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.259-71.

Selective Memory: Celebrity Memoirs." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.31 7-27.

Sen, Sarbani: "The De Debate: Cultural Politics & De’s Novels." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.21-6.

Shobha De: from Starry Nights to Sultry Days." In Indian Women Novelists, Set III Vol.1. R.K. Dhawan (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 1995), pp.l37-401; in The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.69-85.

Shrivastava, Sharad: "Return of Shobha De to the Mainstream ‘New Woman’: A Study of Sultry Days." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.233-6.

Singh, N.P.: "Generation Gap in Selective Memory." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.308-1 6.

Srivastava, Sharad: The New Woman in Indian English Fiction. (New Delhi: Creative, 1996), pp.8 1-100.

Suneel, Seema: Man-Woman Relationship in Indian Fiction: with a Focus on Shashi Deshpande, Rajendra Awasthy and SyedAbdul Malik (New Delhi: Prestige, 1995).

Suraiya, Jug "A Hard De's Night -- Socialite Evenings by Shobha De. Far Eastern Economic Revie, w 21 Dec. 1989: 47.

Surendran, K.V.: "Reflections of Shootingfrom the Hip." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.293-307.

Swain, S.P. "Socialite Evenings: a Feminist Study." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.129-41.

Syal, Pushpinder. "Powders, Puffs and Shobha De’s Fiction: The Novel as Consumer Product." In Contemporary Indian Women Writers in English. A Feminist Perspective. Surya Nath Pandey (ed.). (New Delhi: Atlantic, 1999), pp.59-66.

Tikkha, Neelam: "Lesbian Relationships in Strange Obsession." In The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.220-6.

Tinkcom, Matthew and Villarejo, Amy. "Keyframes: Popular cinema and cultural studies." Routledge, 2001.

Tripathi, Salil. "Midnight’s Children.", New Statesman, 2001, 130,

Tripathi, J.P.: "Shobha De’s Snapshots: the Overwhelming Question." In Indian Fiction of the Nineties. R.S. Pathak (ed.). (New Delhi: Creative, 1997), pp.156-64.

Tripathi, Salil. "Salil Tripathi Remembers Nissim Ezekiel, the Gentle Indian Poet Whose Pioneering Work in English Inspired Later Generations of Writers Magazine." New Statesman, 2004, 133.

Trivedi, Nisha: "Search for Identity in Shobha De’s Starry Nights." In Fiction of the Nineties. Veena Noble Dass & R.K. Dhawan (eds.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 1994), pp.61-6; in Indian Women Novelists, Set III, Vol.1. R.K. Dhawan (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 1995), pp.103-10; in The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.1 80-6.

Uma, Alladi: "Over-(W)rit(d)ing Body: Shobha De’s Novels." In The Postmodern Indian English Novel. Viney Kirpal (ed.). (Bombay: Allied, 1996), pp.182-7.

Walter, Jima: "Shobha De’s Socialite Evenings: an Initiation Tale from Innocence to Experience." In Fiction of the Nineties. Veena Noble Dass & R.K. Dhawan (eds.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 1994), pp.5 1-60; in Indian Women Novelists, Set III, Vol.1. R.K. Dhawan (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 1995), pp.W3-95; in The Fiction of Shobha De. Jaydipshinh Dodiya (ed.). (New Delhi: Prestige, 2000), pp.1 49-59.