Edited by Andrew O’Hagan
Ebury Press, NZ$27.95 | Reviewed by Benedict Reid

IN 2000, the Daily Telegraph organised a group of eleven writers to spend a couple of days in Africa and write a short piece, fiction or non-fiction, inspired by their trip. The finished book won the WH Smith Travel book of the year and raised thousands for charity, as all royalties went to Unicef. The Weekenders: Adventures in Calcutta is an attempt to repeat that success. However, it is far less satisfying despite the return of many of the original authors.

Perhaps it is the strong historical ties between Calcutta and Britain which resulted in this collection of preconceptions. A weekend is obviously not enough time to get to know a town in any depth. However, the tourists’ sense of wonder is also missing in most pieces. Instead, most authors have a tone of mourning for what was, until 1911, the capital of British controlled India. Even the title of this book underlines the colonial ambience; the city Calcutta has been renamed Kolkata in an effort lose the negative British connotations.

A few authors do manage to produce work which goes beyond the homeless and the crumbling buildings. Tony Hawks describes his brief membership in a Kolkata club where people laugh for health. Michael Atherton, former English cricket captain, writes a perfectly pitched story about pushy parents, and Colm Toibin investigates with honesty the state of health care for the poor.

The other writers are less risky. Irvine Welsh does his normal gangster/drugs thing, with India as a backdrop. But the most disappointing contribution is by Simon Garfield who unsuccessfully interviews the workers at his luxury hotel... although I’m sure this would be fascinating reading for travellers who don’t believe in leaving hotel rooms.