Behind The Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo: Book Review
Behind The Beautiful Forevers: An Introduction
Katherine Boo’s first book, Behind The Beautiful Forevers, details the lives of the citizens of Annawadi, a small slum in Mumbai, India. For three years and four months Boo chronicled the everyday struggles of several individuals illegally squatting within the cramped quarters owned by the Mumbai Airport Authority. Founded in 1991 by construction workers hoping to acquire temp work brought on by the ever-expanding airport (Boo, 2012, p. 5), Annawadi is home to “three thousand people … packed into … three hundred and thirty five huts” (Boo, 2012, p. xi).
The book gets its title from the large concrete wall that hides the eyesore of a slum from the wealthy Bollywood actors, businessmen, politicians and tourists that frequent the area. A prominent billboard for the tile company, Italianate, graces the outer wall and repeats the company slogan: Beautiful Forever (Boo, 2012, p. 37). Behind this sunny billboard that promises permanence and richness, lies Annawadi. Nestled between the international departures terminal and five state-of-the-art hotels is the slum in which Boo’s characters call home. Through them, the author personifies the country’s issues of poverty and inequality in a grippingly real story that reads in the style of a fast paced novel.
Annawadi: Through the Eyes of Its Citizens
Boo examines India’s unequal opportunities for upward mobility through the eyes of several individuals she came to know over the course of her time in Annawadi. Through the use of “written notes, video recordings, audiotapes, and photographs” (Boo, 2012, p. 249), as well as “three thousand public records” (Boo, 2012, p. 250), Boo immersed herself within the lives of these people with a determination to share their stories. Much of her focus is placed on the Husain family and the false accusation that devastates their lives. Abdul, the eldest Husain son, has simple dreams of a wife and family and thinks
Katherine Boo’s first book, Behind The Beautiful Forevers, details the lives of the citizens of Annawadi, a small slum in Mumbai, India. For three years and four months Boo chronicled the everyday struggles of several individuals illegally squatting within the cramped quarters owned by the Mumbai Airport Authority. Founded in 1991 by construction workers hoping to acquire temp work brought on by the ever-expanding airport (Boo, 2012, p. 5), Annawadi is home to “three thousand people … packed into … three hundred and thirty five huts” (Boo, 2012, p. xi).
The book gets its title from the large concrete wall that hides the eyesore of a slum from the wealthy Bollywood actors, businessmen, politicians and tourists that frequent the area. A prominent billboard for the tile company, Italianate, graces the outer wall and repeats the company slogan: Beautiful Forever (Boo, 2012, p. 37). Behind this sunny billboard that promises permanence and richness, lies Annawadi. Nestled between the international departures terminal and five state-of-the-art hotels is the slum in which Boo’s characters call home. Through them, the author personifies the country’s issues of poverty and inequality in a grippingly real story that reads in the style of a fast paced novel.
Annawadi: Through the Eyes of Its Citizens
Boo examines India’s unequal opportunities for upward mobility through the eyes of several individuals she came to know over the course of her time in Annawadi. Through the use of “written notes, video recordings, audiotapes, and photographs” (Boo, 2012, p. 249), as well as “three thousand public records” (Boo, 2012, p. 250), Boo immersed herself within the lives of these people with a determination to share their stories. Much of her focus is placed on the Husain family and the false accusation that devastates their lives. Abdul, the eldest Husain son, has simple dreams of a wife and family and thinks