Beautiful Thing
Inside the Secret World of Bombay's Dance Bars
by Sonia Faleiro
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Buy on Amazon
Buy on BN.com
Buy on Bookshop.org
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app
1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date Feb 28 2012 | Archive Date Sep 01 2012
Grove/Atlantic, Inc. | Black Cat
Description
Already published in India to great acclaim and named a Time Out Subcontinental Book of the Year and an Observer Book of the Year, Beautiful Thing is a stunning piece of reportage that offers a rare firsthand glimpse into Bombay’s notorious sex industry.
Sonia Faleiro was a reporter in search of a story when she met nineteen-year-old Leela, a charismatic exotic dancer with a story to tell. Leela introduced Sonia to the underworld of Bombay’s dance bars: a world of glamorous women; of fierce love, sex, and violence; of gangsters, police, prostitutes, and pimps. When an ambitious politician cashed in on a tide of false morality and had Bombay’s dance bars wiped out, Leela’s proud independence faced its greatest test. In a city where almost everyone is certain that someone, somewhere, is worse off than them, she fights to survive—and to win.
Sonia Faleiro has crafted one of the most original works of nonfiction about India in years. Unforgettable for its artistry and intimacy, Beautiful Thing is a vivid portrait of one reporter’s journey into the dark, damaged soul of Bombay.
Sonia Faleiro was a reporter in search of a story when she met nineteen-year-old Leela, a charismatic exotic dancer with a story to tell. Leela introduced Sonia to the underworld of Bombay’s dance bars: a world of glamorous women; of fierce love, sex, and violence; of gangsters, police, prostitutes, and pimps. When an ambitious politician cashed in on a tide of false morality and had Bombay’s dance bars wiped out, Leela’s proud independence faced its greatest test. In a city where almost everyone is certain that someone, somewhere, is worse off than them, she fights to survive—and to win.
Sonia Faleiro has crafted one of the most original works of nonfiction about India in years. Unforgettable for its artistry and intimacy, Beautiful Thing is a vivid portrait of one reporter’s journey into the dark, damaged soul of Bombay.
Advance Praise
"A gripping and intimate portrayal of the lives of the women who work in
[India's sex industry]. She manages to evoke shock, rage, and laughter. . . .
The book is a moving testament to girls who deal with the brutal hand fate has
dealt them by capitalizing on the gifts they do have: beauty, an inner strength,
and each other."-Edna Fernandes, Literary Review
(UK)
"Astonishing, gripping, immersive." -Time Out (India)
"Unforgettable . . . Faleiro has transformed a door, studded with rusted nails of truth, heavy with the strange and disturbing secrets it hides, into a jeweled curtain, and she has drawn that curtain aside with an artist's hand." -Gregory David Roberts, author of Shantaram
"Faleiro writes her way into the bloodstream with this mesmeric book, fashioned with heart and enviable acuity. A shocking, funny, and memorable ride." -Nikita Lalwani, author of Gifted
"Compelling . . . Faleiro has captured a world many refuse to acknowledge and shown it in a delicate, nonjudgmental and touching way." -GQ (India)
"Detailed, disturbing, admirable. A big achievement." -The Indian Express
"A small masterpiece of observation . . . Sassy, sensitive, and deeply moving . . . Beautiful Thing opens up a hidden world with startling insight and intimacy, and strangely is both a tragic monument to the abused bar girls of Bombay and a celebration of their amazing resilience and spirit." -William Dalrymple, author of Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India
"Without question a brilliant, unforgettable book by a writer who is one of the best of her generation . . . One of the most intimate and gripping books written about Bombay in a very long while." -Business Standard (India)
"A rare glimpse into dismissed lives. Faleiro brings a novelist's eye for detail and a depth of empathy to her work. A magnifi cent book of reportage that is also endowed with all the terror and beauty of art." -Kiran Desai, author of The Inheritance of Loss
"Astonishing, gripping, immersive." -Time Out (India)
"Unforgettable . . . Faleiro has transformed a door, studded with rusted nails of truth, heavy with the strange and disturbing secrets it hides, into a jeweled curtain, and she has drawn that curtain aside with an artist's hand." -Gregory David Roberts, author of Shantaram
"Faleiro writes her way into the bloodstream with this mesmeric book, fashioned with heart and enviable acuity. A shocking, funny, and memorable ride." -Nikita Lalwani, author of Gifted
"Compelling . . . Faleiro has captured a world many refuse to acknowledge and shown it in a delicate, nonjudgmental and touching way." -GQ (India)
"Detailed, disturbing, admirable. A big achievement." -The Indian Express
"A small masterpiece of observation . . . Sassy, sensitive, and deeply moving . . . Beautiful Thing opens up a hidden world with startling insight and intimacy, and strangely is both a tragic monument to the abused bar girls of Bombay and a celebration of their amazing resilience and spirit." -William Dalrymple, author of Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India
"Without question a brilliant, unforgettable book by a writer who is one of the best of her generation . . . One of the most intimate and gripping books written about Bombay in a very long while." -Business Standard (India)
"A rare glimpse into dismissed lives. Faleiro brings a novelist's eye for detail and a depth of empathy to her work. A magnifi cent book of reportage that is also endowed with all the terror and beauty of art." -Kiran Desai, author of The Inheritance of Loss
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9780802170927 |
| PRICE | $15.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 240 |
