{"product_id":"shantaram-9780349117546","title":"Shantaram","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eA novel of high adventure, great storytelling and moral purpose, based on an extraordinary true story of eight years in the Bombay underworld.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e'In the early 80s, Gregory David Roberts, an armed robber and heroin addict, escaped from an Australian prison to India, where he lived in a Bombay slum. There, he established a free health clinic and also joined the mafia, working as a money launderer, forger and street soldier. He found time to learn Hindi and Marathi, fall in love, and spend time being worked over in an Indian jail. Then, in case anyone thought he was slacking, he acted in Bollywood and fought with the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan . . . Amazingly, Roberts wrote \u003ci\u003eShantaram\u003c\/i\u003e three times after prison guards trashed the first two versions. It's a profound tribute to his willpower . . . At once a high-kicking, eye-gouging adventure, a love saga and a savage yet tenderly lyrical fugitive vision.' \u003ci\u003eTime Out\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA literary masterpiece\u003c\/b\u003e... at once erudite and intimate, reflective and funny... it has the grit and pace of a thriller * Daily Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003ePowerful and original... \u003cb\u003ea remarkable achievement\u003c\/b\u003e * Sunday Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eA publishing phenomenon * Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003eExtraordinarily vivid... a \u003cb\u003egigantic, jaw-dropping, grittily authentic\u003c\/b\u003e saga * Daily Mail *\u003cbr\u003eUtterly unique, absolutely audacious and wonderfully wild, \u003ci\u003eShantaram\u003c\/i\u003e is sure to catch even the most fantastic of imaginations off guard * Elle *\u003cbr\u003e[A] \u003cb\u003esprawling, intelligent\u003c\/b\u003e novel... full of vibrant characters... the exuberance of his prose is refreshing * Washington Post *\u003cbr\u003eVivid, entertaining... Its visceral, cinematic descriptive beauty truly impresses * USA Today *\u003cbr\u003eFew stand out quite like \u003ci\u003eShantaram\u003c\/i\u003e... nothing if not entertaining... Sometimes a big story is its own reward * New York Times *\u003cbr\u003eVery good... vast of vision and breadth * Time Out *\u003cbr\u003eIt has a heartfelt, cinemascope feel... A \u003cb\u003esensational\u003c\/b\u003e read * Publishers Weekly *\u003cbr\u003e[A] jaw-dropping, grittily authentic saga of lives laid bare * Ireland on Sunday *\u003cbr\u003eA curious mixture of adventure story and travelogue... [a]\u003cb\u003e vivid and compassionate \u003c\/b\u003epanorama of the places and people he encounters * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003e[An] \u003cb\u003eelegantly written, page-turning\u003c\/b\u003e blockbuster... splendidly evoking an India few outsiders know * Kirkus *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eShantaram\u003c\/i\u003e is a novel of the first order, \u003cb\u003ea work of extraordinary art, a thing of exceptional beauty\u003c\/b\u003e. If someone asked me what the book was about, I would have to say everything, every thing in the world. Gregory David Roberts does for Bombay what Lawrence Durrell did for Alexandria, what Melville did for the South Seas, what Thoreau did for Walden Pond: he makes it an eternal player in the literature of the world * Pat Conroy *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eShantaram\u003c\/i\u003e has provided me with the richest reading experience to date and I don't expect anybody to unseat its all-round performance for a long time. It is \u003cb\u003eseductive, powerful, complex, and blessed with a perfect voice\u003c\/b\u003e. Like a voodoo ghost snatcher, Gregory David Roberts has captured the spirits of the likes of Henri Charriere, Rohinton Mistry, Tom Wolfe, and Mario Vargas Llosa, fused them with his own unique magic, and built the most gripping monument in print... Gregory David Roberts is a suitable giant, a dazzling guru, and a genius in full * Moses Isegawa, author of Abyssinian Chronicles and Snakepit *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eShantaram\u003c\/i\u003e is, quite simply, the\u003ci\u003e Arabian Nights\u003c\/i\u003e of the new century. Anyone who loves to read has been looking for this book all their reading life. Anyone who walks away from \u003ci\u003eShantaram \u003c\/i\u003euntouched is either heartless or dead or both. I haven't had such a wonderful time in years * Jonathan Carroll, author of White Apples *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eShantaram\u003c\/i\u003e is dazzling\u003c\/b\u003e. More importantly, it offers a lesson... that those we incarcerate are human beings. They deserve to be treated with dignity. Some of them, after all, may be exceptional. Some may even possess genius * Ayelet Waldman, author of Crossing the Park *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA literary masterpiece\u003c\/b\u003e... at once erudite and intimate, reflective and funny... it has the grit and pace of a thriller * Daily Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003ePowerful and original... \u003cb\u003ea remarkable achievement\u003c\/b\u003e * Sunday Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eA publishing phenomenon * Sunday Times *\u003cbr\u003eExtraordinarily vivid... a \u003cb\u003egigantic, jaw-dropping, grittily authentic\u003c\/b\u003e saga * Daily Mail *\u003cbr\u003eUtterly unique, absolutely audacious and wonderfully wild, \u003ci\u003eShantaram\u003c\/i\u003e is sure to catch even the most fantastic of imaginations off guard * Elle *\u003cbr\u003e[A] \u003cb\u003esprawling, intelligent\u003c\/b\u003e novel... full of vibrant characters... the exuberance of his prose is refreshing * Washington Post *\u003cbr\u003eVivid, entertaining... Its visceral, cinematic descriptive beauty truly impresses * USA Today *\u003cbr\u003eFew stand out quite like \u003ci\u003eShantaram\u003c\/i\u003e... nothing if not entertaining... Sometimes a big story is its own reward * New York Times *\u003cbr\u003eVery good... vast of vision and breadth * Time Out *\u003cbr\u003eIt has a heartfelt, cinemascope feel... A \u003cb\u003esensational\u003c\/b\u003e read * Publishers Weekly *\u003cbr\u003e[A] jaw-dropping, grittily authentic saga of lives laid bare * Ireland on Sunday *\u003cbr\u003eA curious mixture of adventure story and travelogue... [a]\u003cb\u003e vivid and compassionate \u003c\/b\u003epanorama of the places and people he encounters * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003e[An] \u003cb\u003eelegantly written, page-turning\u003c\/b\u003e blockbuster... splendidly evoking an India few outsiders know * Kirkus *","brand":"Little, Brown Book Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48733648716119,"sku":"9780349117546","price":11.69,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780349117546.jpg?v=1720001017","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/shantaram-9780349117546","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}