Short description
The bestselling, award-winning novel behind the Oscar-winning film SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, directed by Danny Boyle
Long description
The bestselling book behind the Oscar-winning film SLUMDOG MILLLIONAIRE directed by Danny Boyle Former tiffinboy Ram Mohammad Thomas has just got twelve questions correct on a TV quiz-show to win a cool one billion rupees. But he is brutally slung in prison on suspicion of cheating. Because how can a kid from the slums know who Shakespeare was, unless he is pulling a fast one. In the order of the questions on the show, Ram tells us which incredible adventures in his life on the streets gave him the answers. From orphanages to brothels, gangsters to beggar-masters, and into the homes of Bollywood's rich and famous, Ram's story is brimming with the chaotic comedy, heart-stopping tragedy and tear-inducing joyousness of modern India.
Review
This brilliant story, as colossal, vibrant and chaotic as India itself... is not to be missed Observer Poignant, funny, rich... with an utterly orignal and brilliant structure at its heart -- Meg Rosoff, Author Of How I Live Now Mingling broad humour with incisive social comment, Q&A is absorbing and richly entertaining reading The Times This lively picaresque novel has an original and telling premise... a colourful portrait of Indian society is painted with remarkable lightness and wit Sunday Telegraph A hugely successful mixture of satire and intrigue Independent on Sunday
awards
Winner of Heathrow Travel Product Award: Travel Read, Fiction 2009.
additional information
Vikas Swarup is a member of the Indian Foreign Service and now lives in Japan. Q&A has won many awards, and is translated into 40 languages so far. It is the book behind the mult-Oscar winning film, Slumdog Millionaire. His second novel, Six Suspects, is available as a Black Swan paperback and ebook.
Customer reviews & ratings
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A rival to Rohintin Mistry's "A Fine Balance"
Reviewed by Ten Taxis from Johannesburg on 31 December 2007
167 of 354 people found the following review helpful:
Ram Mohammed Thomas is a waiter, and the winner of a billion rupees on a quiz show. He is also accused of cheating. Vikas Swarup unfolds the story of Ram's life in segments that show how his varied life experiences gave him the answers to the questions on the show. The chronology of Ram's life is rearranged to fit the ordering of the questions and is strung together in a way that doesn't confuse the reader and that avoids seeming contrived. Ram's remarkable good luck is also such an extension of his personality and his attitude to life that it no longer seems surprising when things work out well.
Swarup has succeeded in painting a picture of life in India as successfully as Rohintin Mistry in "A Fine Balance". The reader meets prostitutes, princesses, priests, proprietors, policemen, doctors, lawyers, beggar masters, criminals, Bollywood film stars and quiz show hosts. The book is gritty and gloomy, but avoids being depressing through effective use of humour and Ram's indefatigable attitude towards life. It is a light and relaxing read and is recommended for anyone with any interest in life in India or, even if that doesn't grab you, a heartwarming story of a big-hearted street boy who has a way of making life go his way.
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