National Book Award Non Fiction Winner
Behind the Beautiful Forevers
by Katherine Boo
Summary
An intimate work of immersive reportage set in Annawadi, a makeshift Mumbai settlement wedged between luxury hotels and the international airport. Boo follows several families, particularly a young trash sorter accused of a crime, to expose how globalization, corruption, and bureaucratic violence shape life at the margins of an aspiring superpower. Her use of recordings, official documents, and years of fieldwork yields a narrative with the texture and intimacy of a novel.
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Historical Context & Significance
Boo spent three years living in the slum; she used hidden microphones and thousands of hours of video to capture the authentic dialogue of the residents.