Behind the Beautiful Forevers
- set item rating to 0.5 out of 5.
- set item rating to 1 out of 5.
- set item rating to 1.5 out of 5.
- set item rating to 2 out of 5.
- set item rating to 2.5 out of 5.
- set item rating to 3 out of 5.
- set item rating to 3.5 out of 5.
- set item rating to 4 out of 5.
- set item rating to 4.5 out of 5.
- set item rating to 5 out of 5.
Add a Comment
Add Tags
Add More
Save to a List
-
Save to a Shared List
Print
Details
- Description
- Full Record
- Author Notes
- Contents
- Excerpts
- Reviews
- Summary
- A\\V Summary
Searching for more content…
The dramatic and sometimes heartbreaking story of families striving toward a better life in one of the twenty-first century's great, unequal cities. In this fast-paced book, based on three years of uncompromising reporting, a bewildering age of global change and inequality is made human. Annawadi is
… More »The dramatic and sometimes heartbreaking story of families striving toward a better life in one of the twenty-first century's great, unequal cities. In this fast-paced book, based on three years of uncompromising reporting, a bewildering age of global change and inequality is made human. Annawadi is a makeshift settlement in the shadow of luxury hotels near the Mumbai airport, and as India starts to prosper, Annawadians are electric with hope. Abdul, a reflective and enterprising Muslim teenager, sees fortune in the recyclable garbage of richer people. Asha, a woman of formidable wit and deep scars from a rural childhood, has identified an alternate route to the middle class: political corruption. And even the poorest Annawadians, like Kalu, a fifteen-year-old scrap-metal thief, believe themselves inching closer to good times. But then, as the tenderest individual hopes intersect with the greatest global truths, the true contours of a competitive age are revealed.--From publisher description.
« LessCommunity Activity
Find it at NYPL
Loading...
Other Formats
- eBook: Check availability» Go to eBook
Comment
Add a CommentLoved this book, but was shocked when I read that it was a true story well researched by Ms. Boo. That made it all the more moving and poignant.
Engaging. Sad. A story about the poorest of the poor in the slums of India and their daily hardships. It is also a book of dreams/hope where sometimes there is none. Sure makes you appreciate the comforts of home.
More fiction than fact in this reporter-written "narrative nonfiction" book.
Read for the library's non-fiction book club (February 2013 - Crystal Lake Public Library). I liked it because it read like a novel and not just a list of facts, and also because it helps you see what life is like by those who live it everyday in the slums of India, right next to the burgeoning wealthier class. I felt it was a truthful account that tried to lay out how things work and why for some of the poorest people in the world. It makes you appreciate when you have your water shut off or heat shut off because of lack of money. This happens to those of us who are underpaid in the U.S. at least a few times a year, but it is a normal part of their lives to never even have it to begin with, so despite our struggles in the U.S., we should definitely appreciate what we have no matter what the circumstances. I definitely would recommend this book to those interested in contemporary life in India and those who want to appreciate what they have and the meaning of working smart in dire situations.
This is an unrelentingly grim portrait of life in a Mumbai, India slum. Having said that, it is a must read. There is no more compelling evidence that poverty is the greatest evil.
Very sad, but true. Well Written and truly shows you the way life really is apart from "our own comfortable little world".
Brilliantly realized portrait of life in a Mumbai slum. The non-fiction book of the year -- that reads like a novel.
This title won the 2012 National Book Award and is considered by many to be one of the best non-fiction titles of the year.
Becky & Paul's BC
This non-fiction bk didn't mean much to me because I've read & loved the cozy mysteries set in modern India by Tarquin Hall. I would have liked to know more of the gritty details of trash sorting in India. Depressing to think people are small-minded & petty the whole world over.