Review: Fascinating...
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 13, 2011
Where does Sonell belong? In "Camel On An Ashtray", author A.S. Anand harnesses a young man's stream-of-consciousness into a well-written and intriguing novella. It is the account of an aspiring writer's search for identity."Sonell" is a Londoner of Indian, Iranian and British ancestry.  Like many twenty-somethings, he spends a lot of his time with his friends in British nightclubs. But all the partying and drinking is actually about escape and procrastination for Sonell because he carries a psychological burden. He is desperate to write about his rich multicultural heritage and his place in it...but he hasn't a clue where that is, and he is frozen with feelings of inadequacy.And so Sonell begins a half-drunken trek from Brighton to Bombay with his friends, Jack and Nick, to "find himself" and to experience first-hand that about which he would write. "Camel On An Ashtray" is SO much more than "guys on a road trip". This account of Sonell's alcoholic journey from England to India gives the reader a glimpse into the hedonism of youth and the seduction of the intellect. I found it fascinating...