3 Review(s)

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity is a brilliant, breathtaking non-fiction written by Pulitzer Prize-winner, Katherine Boo. Summary of the Book Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity is a fast-paced book based on three years of uncompromising and rigorous reporting by the author. The book follows the life of the residents of the Annawadi slum in Mumbai, as they strive toward a better life in the City of Dreams. Annawadi is a present-day slum in the shadow of luxury hotels near the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. Abdul is a street-smart teenager who picks trash for a living. Meanwhile, Asha is an ambitious woman who identifies an easy way out of this life of misery and with luck on her side, her beautiful daughter might become Annawadi’s first female college graduate. But when Abdul is falsely accused in a shocking tragedy and global recession and terror rock the city of Mumbai, all their hopes and dreams come crashing down. Behind the Beautiful Forevers will be a great read for those who enjoy non-fiction. About Katherine Boo Katherine Book is an American investigative journalist and author. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, the MacArthur "genius" award, and the National Book Award for Non-fiction. She was a staff writer for the New Yorker magazine since 2003. Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity won several awards including the Los Angeles Times Book Awards, the New York Public Library, the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Book Award for Non-fiction. She graduated from Barnard College of Columbia University and is married to Sunil Khilnani, a professor of politics and the director of the India Institute at King's College London.