Grand Delusions, by Indrajit Hazra, is a short biography of Kolkata. It is part personal essay, part documentary, and part cultural history, which contains anecdotes and fascinating facts about the city. Compiled as a part of a series of books on the cities of India, this title offers a distinctive portrayal of the city of joy ??? Kolkata. It is both intimate and thought-provoking. The book takes us to the eccentric paras (neighbourhoods) and clubs of the north and the south, past buildings disintegrating mutely into spectacular ruins, deep inside Park Streets iconic restaurants and watering holes, through roads clogged by political rallies, to deprived cinema halls haunted by lonely men, and into the lairs of fortune-tellers and tantric love gurus. It conveys the author???s deep knowledge of Kolkata???s history and culture with a unique style and wit, deftly capturing the city???s splendour and disillusionment, ironies and apprehensions. The personal and the political aspects in the narrative style are cleverly blended in this title.