PICT Book Tops Bestseller Lists, Receives Media Coverage

In the week since its publication, Pinaki Bhattacharya’s Fulkumari: The Tale of a Refugee and a Rat in Pandemic Paris (PICT Books, 2025) has topped various bestseller lists compiled by the online retailer Amazon and received extensive media coverage in the author’s home country of Bangladesh.
On Amazon USA, Fulkumari’s top three rankings include #1 Bestseller among Historical India & South Asia Biographies, #1 Bestseller among Historical Asian Biographies, #1 New Release in the History of India, #1 New Release among Political Leader Biographies, and #3 New Release among Historical Biographies. On Amazon Australia, the book’s top three rankings once again include #1 Bestseller among Historical India & South Asia Biographies and #1 Bestseller among Historical Asian Biographies as well as #1 New Release among Asian & Asian American Biographies, #2 New Release among Historical Biographies, and #2 New Release among Biographies. On Amazon Canada, the book has been the #1 Bestseller in Bangladeshi History, the #1 New Release in the History of Paris, and the #1 New Release in the History of France. Finally, on Amazon UAE, Fulkumari has been ranked the #2 New Release in the History of Asia and the #2 New Release among Political Leader Biographies.
In Bangladesh, Fulkumari has been featured in articles by online news sites including Bangla News 24, Bangla Review, BD-Pratidin, Daily Bangla Barta, Daily Janakantha, Daily Sun, Innovative Education, Jugantor, Kaler Kantho, and MZamin. The book has also been the subject of news clips released by outlets such as AjBarta, Asian Television, BD Times News, Channel i, Daily ManabZamin, Kaler Kantho, and Weekly Politician. While the various news articles have commented on the book’s bestseller rankings and drawn attention to Pinaki’s work as a social activist, Kaler Kantho also reported that Asif Nazrul, the Bangladeshi Law Minister, issued a congratulatory note to Pinaki on the release of Fulkumari.
Pinaki had to leave Bangladesh in 2019 due to his human rights activism and currently resides in Paris, France, from where his online commentary on Bangladeshi current affairs has attracted a following of millions in his home country and abroad. He is the author of nineteen previous books that span a broad range of topics from the history of Bangladesh to the philosophy of René Descartes and the poetry of Rabindranath Tagore. Through his online presence, Pinaki played a crucial role in mobilizing the July-August Revolution of 2024 which toppled the fascist regime that had ruled Bangladesh for more than a decade.
Fulkumari: The Tale of a Refugee and a Rat in Pandemic Paris tells the fictionalized story of Pinaki’s encounters with a rat under pandemic lockdown in his Paris apartment. Pinaki names the rat Fulkumari and forms an imaginary pact with her, reminiscent of the Arabian Nights. Telling her a story each day, he unravels the layers of his past. Tales of revolution, famine, and civil war intertwine with the poetry, philosophy, and myths of an entire culture; precious moments of family intimacy come alive in flavors, smells, and sounds. As the bond between refugee and rat strengthens, each story becomes a thread in a tapestry of meaning, bravely reaffirming a world on the verge of falling apart.
We congratulate Pinaki and the entire PICT Books team on Fulkumari’s well-deserved success!
Fulkumari will soon be published in Bengali translation – find out more!
Get your copy of Fulkumari at this link!
A list of links to the news pieces mentioned above, most of them in Bengali, is provided below and will be updated as new ones come in.
Articles
- Bangla News 24
- Bangla Review
- BD-Pratidin
- Channel i
- Daily Bangla Barta
- Daily Janakantha
- Daily Sun
- Innovative Education
- Jugantor
- Kaler Kantho
- MZamin
Videos
Responses