Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
by Katherine Boo
The Let鈥檚 Talk About It, 麻豆传媒 book discussion series at 麻豆传媒 City University Wraps up this fall with Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo at 7 p.m. Nov. 1 in 麻豆传媒鈥檚 Walker Center Room 151.
The discussion series is titled 鈥淐ivil Rights and Equality: A Pulitzer Prize Centennial 麻豆传媒鈥� and is made possible through a grant from the 麻豆传媒 Humanities Council and the Pulitzer Foundation鈥檚 Centennial Campfire Initiative.
Who could know that the 2008 U.S. mortgage crisis that sent our economy into a tailspin would affect the income opportunities for trash recyclers living in impromptu slum housing across the globe? Boo鈥檚 book tells the true story of a family who lives in the slums of Mumbai, India, taking the discussion of civil rights into an international context. The family鈥檚 home stands in sight of the city鈥檚 luxury hotels, and the income inequality gaps ebb and flow along with the global economy.
Based on ethnographic research and extensive interviews with residents of Mumbai鈥檚 shanty neighborhoods, Boo鈥檚 descriptions of the people and settings are compelling, full of pathos and honesty about the ugliness of struggling for survival as well as the small glimmers of happiness available to anyone with the right outlook. The community comes to life through her rich storytelling, particularly the central plot element of the Husain family鈥檚 embroilment in a crime they did not commit. Its unfolding raises questions about justice, corruption, opportunity, economic progress and gentrification, and discrimination based on religion, caste, and gender.
Reading Behind the Beautiful Forevers teaches us much about another culture, but also forces us to reflect on relative privilege and raises questions about parallel issues in our culture: to what extent are societies connected and indebted to one another in an increasingly shrinking world?
At each session in the five-part series, a humanities scholar makes a presentation on the book in the context of the theme. For this book, our speaker will be Dr. Amrita Sen. Small group discussions follow with experienced discussion leaders. At the end, all participants come together for a brief wrap-up.
While all books to loan in this series have been checked out, members of the 麻豆传媒 City-area community are welcome to bring their own copies of the book and join the conversation.
For more information call 405-208-5707, or e-mail [email protected]
