Behind the Beautiful Forevers

Behind the Beautiful Forevers
AuthorKatherine Boo
LanguageEnglish
SubjectPoverty, inequality, corruption in India
GenreNon-fiction
PublisherRandom House
Publication date2012
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Hardcover, Paperback), e-book
Pages256 pp.
ISBN978-1-4000-6755-8
OCLC693809650

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity is a 2012 non-fiction book by Katherine Boo. The book was later adapted into a play by David Hare which premiered at the Weitz Center Cinema in London.

Synopsis

Reception

The New York Times' Pankaj Mishra says the book "provides a bracing antidote to the ideological opiates of recent decades". William Dalrymple of The Guardian praised Boo's observant writing and compares her work to Charles Dickens' Our Mutual Friend.

The book won the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2012 and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 2013.

Awards and honors

The book won the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2012, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 2013,, finalist of the 2012 National Book Critics Circle Award the in the Nonfiction category,, longlist for the 2012 Samuel Johnson Prize, shortlist for the 2012 Guardian First Book Award, The New York Times Best Seller list, and The New York Times' 100 Best Books of the 21st Century at #22 place.

Adaptations

In 2014, Behind the Beautiful Forevers was adapted into a play by David Hare and directed by Rufus Norris. It premiered at the Weitz Center Cinema.

References

  1. 1 2 "Behind the Beautiful Forevers at the National Theatre". National Theatre. Retrieved January 25, 2025.
  2. ↑ Mishra, Pankaj (9 February 2012). "Fighting for Scraps". Retrieved 4 August 2026.
  3. ↑ Dalrymple, William (22 June 2012). "Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Slum by Katherine Boo – review". Retrieved 4 August 2026.
  4. ↑ "National Book Award 2012". Retrieved 4 August 2026.
  5. ↑ "Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America, by Gilbert King (Harper)". Retrieved 4 August 2026.
  6. ↑ "National Book Critics Circle Announces Its Finalists for Publishing Year 2012". 14 January 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2026.
  7. ↑ Flood, Alison (18 September 2012). "Rushdie memoir heads Samuel Johnson prize longlist". Retrieved 4 August 2026.
  8. ↑ Flood, Alison (8 November 2012). "Guardian First Book award 2012 shortlist announced". Retrieved 4 August 2026.
  9. ↑ "Behind the Beautiful Forevers". Retrieved 4 August 2026.
  10. ↑ "The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century". Retrieved 4 August 2026.