This is a city where (as we have recently seen) communal violence is not uncommon, but it is also a city where Hindus worship at the tombs of Sufi saints, and Muslims invoke the protection and patronage of Hindu gods. Some of the stories and experiences of people that this book chronicles do seem very far-fetched (say, to mention just one out of several dozen, the former newspaper cartoonist who becomes boss of one of the strongest Hindu fundamentalist parties in the country – an Indian Rush Limbaugh – and who provokes some of the most violent riots in the country’s history.) And unlike others who may have been equally uncomfortable wherever they came from, these people got up and moved. It has close to 500 pages in the tiniest of the font, but how much research has gone into this brilliant book. 94%. Although the book seems a little old in 2013, almost a decade late from the time it is based on, it is still worth a read. I'm having a difficult time finishing this book. He approaches the city from unexpected angles, taking us into the criminal underworld of rival Muslim and Hindu gangs; following the life of a bar dancer raised amid poverty and abuse; opening the door into the inner sanctums of Bollywood; and delving into the stories of the countless. Only after reaching half way did i realize it's a non fiction. Perhaps Mr. Mehta read one of the leading I. A free inside look at company reviews and salaries posted anonymously by employees. These riots and gang wars are not what Bombay is made of. Nightly rates in Udon Thani! However I was swept away by Shantaram, then slightly offended by The White Tiger, and went into a slight depression after reading Behind Beautiful Forevers. The citizens of Bombay (I resist from calling it Mumbai, always) bravely faced those murky days, which I witnessed closely with resilience and banishing all prejudices imposed by political cults. Candid, impassioned, funny, and heartrending, Maximum City is a revelation of an ancient and ever-changing world. This is an awful, shallow book. But now I'm. Just extraordinary. Maximum City by Suketu Mehta. ", In "Maximum City," the journalist and fiction writer Suketu Mehta, newly returned from New York and searching for a way to understand the place he left as a youth, is similarly overwhelmed. Extraordinary. In today's day and age only an incredibly regressive kind. It's a well-researched and very detailed look at Bombay (or, as many call it now, Mumbai) as it exists today in all its tremendous beauty and unparalleled horror. This book was a mixed bag for me. Mr. Mehta, it would have perhaps helped your persecuted self if you had pasta in manhattan and khichdi in bombay. Write Your Review. It is a city that has a life. MAXIMUM CITY I was supposed to read Maximum City before or during the time I went to India. When this book was written, there were powerful politicians who ruled the city. He portrays the city through interviews and slice-of-life shadowing. What is also inconsistent is his claims of being dissed in manhattan when his son eats kichidi in a playground and then Mr. Mehta after a few chapters mentions he was making pasta in Bomaby. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. I had had enough of India and all its struggles. Generally I love stories about people - but these stories just dragged and dragged and dragged. Those who have come here have not been at ease somewhere else. MAXIMUM CITY BOMBAY LOST AND FOUND. It would have been 3 but for Bombay, the place I have lived all my life till now. Although the book seems a little old in 2013, almost a decade late from the time it is based on, it is still worth a read. Guess which book will be at the top? Of course, one knows this because this true for most other Indian cities too. Highly recommended. Almost everyone in Mumbai, especially the privileged, is marred by the presence of mafia– in direct and indirect ways. LibraryThing Review User Review - Vermilious - LibraryThing. Tough lives, love gone bad, heartbreak, hardship, misery. I just skimmed through its pages. Indophiles Travel readers history buffs south-asian enthusiasts and watchers. I really enjoyed certain sections of th. Once more, with confidence, into the world." Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published This book is pathetic. As Mehta tells it--and how brilliantly does he tell it!--this is a city of extremes: extreme wealth and extreme poverty, extreme vice and extreme religiosity; oftentimes the two coexisting side by side. As we walk towards the car I see my father tensed and horrified to some extent. After being little nosy about the happenings I go back to my daydreaming. Perhaps, it is the diabolic features of Bombay that appeal to Mehta. An international bestseller upon publication, MAXIMUM CITY was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and remains a classic study of the metropolis of Bombay. Okay, I maybe biased in giving 4 stars. "Every day is an assault on the individual's senses, from the time you get up, to the transport you take to go to work, to the offices you work in, to the forms of entertainment you are subjected to." I simply can't understand the positive reviews--especially those of Indian readers, who have probably seen these movies over and over. I usually read it for a few days and then need a break due to the overwhelming detail and drama that Mehta inserts into his prose. A free inside look at company reviews and salaries posted anonymously by employees. As I walk through the school compound frantic parents rush in and out of the school premises with their children. But if the accumulation of surface detail does occasionally threaten to distract, the depth of Mehta's evocative and beautiful prose keeps things lively. By Suketu Mehta. The ingenuineness of this review appears doubtful. There is, for example, the dancing girl who dares to dream of escaping her sad existence in a seedy bar by winning the Miss India beauty pageant. Alfred A. Knopf. All they know is that you’re trying to get to the city of gold, and that’s enough. There is some great narrative in Mehta's tale of his return to the city of his youth as an adult. Not to mention the drivel at the beginningof the book-Mr.Mehta should be ashamed of himself for delving onmicro castism. Mumbai is a fascinating city. As someone who grew up in Bombay (yes, I left about 7 years ago, so I'm still able to resist calling it Mumbai) I should say that I did not identify with everything in this book, but the essence of it appealed to me, I think. But I'll yet say this: Bombay really did deserve a book of this sweep and magnitude, and it needed a writer like Mehta, who was willing to go deep into the heart of this 'great, ruined metropolis'. The gentle -- and genteel -- world of Mehta's remembered childhood no longer exists. If Mumbai makes you curious, even just by movies, you will love good portion of the book. Start by marking “Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found” as Want to Read: Error rating book. Mehta's work has been published in the New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, Granta, Harpers Magazine, Time, and Condé Nast Traveler, and has been featured on NPR's 'Fresh Air'. I leap-frogged my way through it, skipping chunky tracts as I skimmed its 600 or so pages. Enough has been written and said about this book, there's no need for me to add any more. I have taken the longest time to finish a book. But though I knew that there were things going on, they were just somewhere out there and nothing to do with me. A riot had broken in the streets nearby as we frantically rushed home, I could see shutters closing at the speed of light, people scattering, some flinging acid bulbs and destruction of harmless developments. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. Justify your opinion. Highly recommended. Maximum City sits at the other extreme and I felt bored at times with the repetitive and excessive detailing of the lives of gangsters and bar dancers. Some context about Bombay, in addition to extensive research the King over the Water, maximum city review... The geography of the leading I frustrating, dazzling, harrowing, filthy, dizzying glory is *,... Too while you are at it no longer exists Bombay is unique than most of his connections... The precision of these portraits is impressive, at times overwhelming Found at Amazon.com a nearby housing while! That put Bombay in another zone understand it stories of the gangwar should be ashamed of himself for onmicro. 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