The White Tiger

Summary

Balram Halwai, a chauffeur turned entrepreneur in Bangalore, narrates his bloody escape from rural poverty in a series of letters to a visiting Chinese premier. Adiga's mordant, first-person voice exposes the underside of India's economic miracle, where caste, corruption, and servitude underwrite the new wealth. The novel is fast-moving, blackly funny, and unsparing about who pays the cost of growth.