{"id":16115,"date":"2012-01-27T10:44:40","date_gmt":"2012-01-27T14:44:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bookdragon.si.edu\/?p=16115"},"modified":"2015-08-17T09:56:27","modified_gmt":"2015-08-17T13:56:27","slug":"behind-the-beautiful-forevers-life-death-and-hope-in-a-mumbai-undercity-by-katherine-boo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/behind-the-beautiful-forevers-life-death-and-hope-in-a-mumbai-undercity-by-katherine-boo\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo [in Christian Science Monitor]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Behind<\/a>Remember the title of Katherine Boo<\/a>\u2019s new book Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity<\/a><\/em>, because you will see it on upcoming nominee lists for the next round of Very Important Literary Prizes. That Boo won the Pulitzer in 2000<\/a>, a MacArthur \u201cGenius\u201d Fellowship in 2002<\/a>, became a staff writer for The New Yorker<\/em> in 2003<\/a> (contributor since 2001) after 10 years with The Washington Post<\/em>, and is just now publishing her debut title, will guarantee media coverage. That Beautiful<\/em> is an unforgettable true story, meticulously researched with unblinking honesty, will make Boo\u2019s next awards well-deserved.<\/p>\n

From November 2007 to March 2011, Boo became a regular fixture in Annawadi, \u201cthe sumpy plug of slum\u201d next to the constantly-modernizing international Mumbai airport, and home to 3,000 inhabitants \u201cpacked into, or on top of 355 huts.\u201d Settled in 1991 by Tamil Nadu laborers from southern India hired to repair an airport runway, 21st-century Annawadi sits \u201cwhere New India collided with old India and made new India late.\u201d Encircling Annawadi are \u201cfive extravagant hotels,\u201d luxurious evidence of India\u2019s growing global presence: \u201c\u2019Everything around us is roses,\u2019\u201d describes an Annawadian, \u201c\u2019And we\u2019re the sh*t in between.\u2019\u201d In this fetid microcosm, everyday dramas range from petty jealousies to explosive violence fueled by religion, caste, and gender.<\/p>\n

At the center of Boo\u2019s story is garbage trafficker Abdul, the oldest son and prime earner of the 11-member Husain family who comprise almost one-third of Annawadi\u2019s three-dozen Muslim population. Thoughtful, quiet Abdul, who is 16 or 19 \u2013 \u201chis parents were hopeless with dates\u201d \u2013 his ill father, and his older sister stand accused of beating their crippled neighbor One Leg and setting her on fire. For three years, the family is victimized by a labyrinthine legal system controlled by open palms constantly demanding payment.<\/p>\n

Life continues in Annawadi: Asha, a lowly-paid kindergarten teacher, works her growing political connections toward escaping the slum, determined her daughter Manju will become Annawadi\u2019s first college graduate. Manju\u2019s best friend Meena wants something more than to be a trapped, arranged teenage bride: \u201cEverything on television announced a new and better India for women,\u201d but \u201cmarrying into a village family was like time-traveling backward.\u201d<\/p>\n

The toilet cleaner Mr. Kamble is literally dying to raise enough money for a new heart valve so he can continue to shovel sewage and feed his family. The tiny scavenger-turned-thief Sunil (first introduced to Western readers in Boo\u2019s February 2009 New Yorker<\/em> article<\/a>) worries that he will remain forever stunted, but at least he\u2019s not a \u201cbaldie\u201d like his taller, younger sister whose rat bites have become \u201cboils [that] erupted with worms.\u201d Meanwhile, thieving Kalu recreates the latest Bollywood films with his talented impersonations, entertaining slum kids who will never witness such marvels themselves.<\/p>\n

Mumbai, for its marvelous rebirth, remains the largest city in an India that, in spite of being \u201can increasingly affluent and powerful nation \u2026 still housed one-third of the poverty, and one-quarter of the hunger, on the planet.\u201d With the wealth of India\u2019s top 100-richest equaling almost a quarter of the country\u2019s GDP, today\u2019s gap between top and bottom is virtually unfathomable.<\/p>\n

Having built her lauded career on capturing the experiences of those living in some of America\u2019s poorest communities, Boo moves \u201cbeyond [her] so-called expertise\u201d to her husband\u2019s country of origin, ready to \u201ccompensate for my limitations the same way I do in unfamiliar American territory: by time spent, attention paid, documentation secured, accounts cross-checked.\u201d Once the Annawadians accepted the novelty of her foreign presence, \u201cthey went more or less about their business as I chronicled their lives\u201d on the page, on film, on audiotape, in photos.<\/p>\n

Throughout such careful documentation, the one element missing \u2013 very much to her credit \u2013 is Boo herself. Beautiful<\/em> is by no means a personal memoir; it is not a socioeconomic study on poverty, nor a political treatise on widespread corruption. Beautiful<\/em> is pure, astonishing reportage with as unbiased a lens as possible about specific individuals who populate a clearly demarcated section of ever-changing Mumbai.<\/p>\n

The details of Boo\u2019s process \u2013 with a glimpse into her experiences \u2013 are added in the \u201cAuthor\u2019s Note\u201d at book\u2019s end. Further details about Boo follow in \u201cA Conversation with Katherine Boo<\/a>\u201d conducted by Random House power editor Kate Medina. Before ever “meeting” Kate Boo, readers thoroughly experience Annawadi with Abdul, One Leg, Manju, Sunil, and so many memorable others. Boo\u2019s presence as the silent reporter remains so discreet throughout that she virtually disappears as you journey deeper and deeper, unable to turn away.<\/p>\n

Review<\/strong>: Christian Science Monitor<\/em>, January 26, 2012<\/a><\/p>\n

Tidbit<\/strong>: How exciting! An excerpt from this review is quoted on Boo’s website<\/a>. And can I just admit how satisfying it’s been to watch Boo and book appear on just about every Very Important Literary Prize finalist and winner list throughout this year??!! Congratulations on the latest: the 2012 National Book Award for Nonfiction<\/a>. Whoo hoooo!!!<\/p>\n

Readers<\/strong>: Adult<\/p>\n

Published<\/strong>: 2012<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Remember the title of Katherine Boo\u2019s new book Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity, because you will see it on upcoming nominee lists for the next round of Very Important Literary Prizes. That Boo won the Pulitzer in 2000,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,52,60,20,6535],"tags":[1233,6608,148,22,75,10,11,149,68,123,1234,28,364],"class_list":["post-16115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adult-readers","category-indian","category-nonethnic-specific","category-nonfiction","category-repost","tag-behind-the-beautiful-forevers","tag-bookdragon","tag-christian-science-monitor","tag-civil-rights","tag-death","tag-family","tag-friendship","tag-gender-inequality","tag-haves-vs-have-nots","tag-illness","tag-katherine-boo","tag-politics","tag-sociology"],"yoast_head":"\nBehind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo [in Christian Science Monitor] - BookDragon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/behind-the-beautiful-forevers-life-death-and-hope-in-a-mumbai-undercity-by-katherine-boo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo [in Christian Science Monitor] - BookDragon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Remember the title of Katherine Boo\u2019s new book Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity, because you will see it on upcoming nominee lists for the next round of Very Important Literary Prizes. 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