Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found (Vintage) - Softcover

Mehta, Suketu

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0375703403 ISBN 13: 9780375703409

Publisher: Vintage, 2005

Synopsis

A native of Bombay, Suketu Mehta gives us an insider's view of this stunning metropolis. He approaches the city from unexpected angles, taking us into the criminal underworld of rival Muslim and Hindu gangs, following the life of a bar dancer raised amid poverty and abuse, opening the door into the inner sanctums of Bollywood, and delving into the stories of the countless villagers who come in search of a better life and end up living on the sidewalks.

As each individual story unfolds, Mehta also recounts his own efforts to make a home in Bombay after more than twenty years abroad. Candid, impassioned, funny, and heartrending, Maximum City is a revelation of an ancient and ever-changing world.

About this title

Review:

"Stunning. . . . A powerful, arresting work. . . . Marvelous." -Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Narrative reporting at its finest, probably the best work of nonfiction to come out of India in recent years. . . . Mehta succeeds so brilliantly in taking the pulse of this riotous urban jungle." -The New York Times Book Review

As each individual story unfolds, Mehta also recounts his own efforts to make a home in Bombay after more than twenty years abroad. Candid, impassioned, funny, and heartrending, Maximum City is a revelation of an ancient and ever-changing world.

"What Dickens did for London, what Joseph Mitchell did for New York City, Suketu Mehta has done for Bombay. . . . A candid, extensive, and wholly entertaining portrait." -San Diego Union-Tribune

"The ultimate insider's view of Bombay, a roiling and vigorous account that delivers on a seemingly impossible challenge: how to limn the diversity and sprawl of such a place in a single book." -The Seattle Times

From the Publisher:

Short-listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0375703403
• ISBN 13: 9780375703409
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 560