A Free Man – A True Story of Life and Death in Delhi: A True Story of Life & Death in Delhi - Softcover

Sethi, Aman

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393346609 ISBN 13: 9780393346602

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2013

Synopsis

Like Dave Eggers s Zeitoun and Alexander Masters s Stuart, this is a tour de force of narrative reportage. Mohammed Ashraf studied biology, became a butcher, a tailor, and an electrician s apprentice; now he is a homeless day laborer in the heart of old Delhi. How did he end up this way? In an astonishing debut, Aman Sethi brings him and his indelible group of friends to life through their adventures and misfortunes in the Old Delhi Railway Station, the harrowing wards of a tuberculosis hospital, an illegal bar made of cardboard and plywood, and into Beggars Court and back onto the streets. In a time of global economic strain, this is an unforgettable evocation of persistence in the face of poverty in one of the world s largest cities. Sethi recounts Ashraf s surprising life story with wit, candor, and verve, and A Free Man becomes a moving story of the many ways a man can be free."

About this title

Review:

Important [and] powerful.

As raw and disturbing as it is wryly humorous and poignant.

Starred Review. A moving and irrepressible work of narrative reporting.

A brilliant capturing of the language and bloodstream of a city. Aman Sethi has made a book that's remarkable in its voice and evocation.--Michael Ondaatje, author of The English Patient

A Free Man makes no promise of a happy ending. Perhaps no book about contemporary Indian society can. But it delivers more. It takes readers on a journey they might otherwise not go on. And that the destination is neither secret nor hidden shows that sometimes what matters isn't what's beyond our reach. It's what's before our eyes.--Sonia Faleiro

A Free Man is a beautiful work of journalism, sympathetic and graceful. The author follows, and progressively befriends, a homeless day laborer in Delhi. What starts as classic ethnography becomes a gripping story, and ends as a homage to a lost friend.--Esther Duflo, author of Poor Economics and MacArthur Fellow

Book Description:

A bestseller in India, this brilliant account of the life of an itinerant Delhi labourer marks the debut of a major new writer

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0393346609
• ISBN 13: 9780393346602
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240