BEAUTIFUL THING (PB)

Good book

Great reportage and storytelling.

Falerio is one of the best non-fiction writers in India. I couldn't believe a non-fiction book could be such a fast read. The writer makes you empathize with people that we think are dirty just because of their profession. It has been a long time since I cried reading a book.

Too long, confusing and boring. None of the characters are given depth. The storyline is non existent. One of the dullest read.

good

Good book. Gives us a glimpse of the life of a girl working in a dance bar.

Excellent, the book describes the true reality of Bombay dance bar girls, when the bars were at their prime time and after the banned by the government. Faleiro manages to pack lots of things like pimps, gangsters, police, madams, hijras etc. The book is fast paced, perfectly observed and full of curiosity.Faleiro portrays the life of Bombay dance bar teenage girl Leela, her journey from small village to Bombay, their night life, struggle for survival and her bitter world. The first half of the book revel’s the life of dance bar and second half deals after ban imposed by government. The conversation with the character is mixture of English and Hindi. The author has perfectly observed the mentality of men, from one girl to another, from one bed to another for physical satisfaction, and because of this types of nature the girl’s life like Leela are being ruined.What I liked about the book is its way of writing, the story is told in conversation between author and the protagonist Leela. The dark side of Mumbai is perfectly crafted by the aurthor.Also the book is based on extensive research on sex workers, policeman, madams, pimps, bar owners, hijras etc; the author has researched on this topic for more than 5 yrs. I am a big fan of investigative journalism, so according to my view this is a must read book. Beautiful Thing is very informative and engaging book.

Its an amazing and well researched story by the author. It gives an insight about the life of people for whom no one cares not even the government. Its really sad how one man R R Shinde destroyed an industry which at it peak provided employment directly to 75K people and indirectly to 1 Million people in the city of Mumbai. A must read for any Mumbaikar to know what happens inside the dirty but not so dirty world of bars. What the police & society does to the plight of young women in our country.

Not only was this book unsavoury - it was unreadable! The first instance of each Indian word was explained but never again, despite repeated usage. The Indian words (one shot opportunity to memorize them) kept proliferating till my brain burst.

Though a work of non-fiction, Falerio's writing instantly sucks you in and gets you heavily invested in the fate of the protagonist and has you turning the pages through to the end. It could be a paper-back - for it is gritty and titillating as any thriller, yet it is also a report on the state of affairs of young women without means and without protection in urban India.While targeted at a privileged readership, this book is not a moral treatise or a pedantic talking-to to its reader, and it is most certainly not a cheap invitation to gawk at the lives of others. I think it aims to be a space to put forward the story of these brave, beautiful young women-- because that is what they seek- a listener. And once you have listened to these girls, the question arises, out of your sheer admiration and empathy for their savage spirit of survival - is there anything you can possibly do for them but to change the way you look at them, the way you think about them and what you hope for them?Falerio's dancing girls are inarticulate, unrefined and uneducated, yet I saw them as TRULY feminist. While they own their femininity, flaunt their sexuality and sell it with impunity, Falerio is able to contextualize this as the only kind of feminism available to these women- the kind that refuses to be patronized, the kind that navigates a grotesquely patriarchal and apathetic society without fear and with hope for something better. They are not simply feminist because patriarchy isn't working for them --.they seek to author their lives themselves. Yet, it is also the kind of feminism yearns to be loved, to be saved, to be safe and to be materially successful. This is useful and important to understand, if any of us are going to be proactive about the state of women in India, or anywhere for that matter.This book is also about urban poverty and about derelict youth that looks to glamour and money as the only benchmarks for a successful life, which is to be gained at all costs. This book is about the toxicity of the 'Indian dream', which is essentially a lifestyle dream - one that most people in India have absolutely no access to, confounded by the fact that they don't come from the right family, don't know the right people, didn't go to the right schools, didn't pay off the right person, don't have the right skin color, etc. This book is about the fact that many bright, beautiful young things are set up, right from birth, to be screwed- literally and figuratively.This book tells a tragic story,but in the midst of the tragedy, it documents a thriving will to rise above it all, a will that is alive even among the most wretched, one that is dangerous and self destructive, but it is a real resource and the most precious one we have in our country today.

would recommend it as an insight to the language and life of dance bars - funny and thought provoking !

A fascinating insight in to a world that is far removed for most of our experiences. The only "fault" is that it is real lfe and so there is no neat ending.

I bought this book based on the reviews and am sorry I did. I have never been a fan of writing that feels like the author is singing a song. Things seem to pop out from no where and there was no flow to the story. Athough I understand Hindi, I felt half the hindi words were just added for no reason. I had to read the first two chapters twice as I had no idea what was going on. Sorry its just not my cup of chai.