Thomas Nevins

The remarkable come out of nowhere. And such is the case with Katherine Boo's first book, a work of non-fiction entitled, BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS. The subject is a group of squatters settled on land surrounding the airport in Mumbai, India. The title refers to a wall that was erected between the airport and the city built to hide the squatters and the slum from the highway's view. The space on the wall has been sold to adverise a compnay called "Beautiful Forever". Boo's story is of what goes on behind that wall. It is a broad canvas and a tricky topic and it is handled with a deft, human touch. Boo narrows the perspective to Annawadi, a neighborhood within the slum, and a cast of characters that live there. Here are a few:
Fatima: a one-legged woman whose self-immolation and its aftermath set the course of the story. She is vindictive and fierce in makeup more brash than any Bollywood star and who felt, "only in the hours when the men came - husband at work, daughters at school - did the part of her body she had to offer more important than the part of it she lacked".
Abdul; even as a teenager he is a master at sorting and selling garbage that he collects, buys and brings to market. He is the bread-winner of his family. His personal goal is to have enough money to buy an iPod, not for his love of music, but to drown out the sounds of Annawadi. As a Muslim he is even more of an outcast in a culture of cast offs. He is accused of setting Fatima on fire.
Asha; is a woman of strong ambitions and wants to be the first female slumlord of Annawadi. She is in tight with the local politicians and police. She is the one to see to get things done. But, it's going to cost you.
It has become almost cliche to say that good non-fiction reads like a novel, but this is the effect of Boo's writing. What is remarkable is how she is able to connect the reader directly to the characters as if the author isn't there' just the subject and the reader. If I were to compare her to another writer, I would have to agree with Janet Maslin (and she with me) and say, Charles Dickens for the character study and story that reveals a great social injustice. Except, Boo's book is a heck of a lot shorter, employing a strict economy of language that Dickens lacked and leaves me with only one word to describe BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS, "Wow!"

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If you'd like to reach me click on "Contact the Author" on the right... Thank you, Tom

My bio below:

Thomas "Tom" Nevins was born in Brooklyn, NY, where he still lives with his wife and three daughters. As a teenager he became interested in writing after hearing the lyrics of Bob Dylan and the Beatles. After High School, Nevins worked, traveled through Europe; Holland, England, Ireland, Scotland, Norway and across the U.S. before he attended the New York University School of Continuing Education. In 1974 he enrolled in College of Staten Island, a division of City University System, where he was lucky enough to not only meet his wife, Debbie, but to study under John Shawcross, Armand Schwerener, and Herbert Leibowitz, who sponsored Nevins with a working scholarship to the Bread Loaf Writers Conference in 1977. Upon graduation into a recessed economy, he found it difficult to land a job; one day he walked into Doubleday Bookshops in Manhattan to enquire about employment opportunities. They hired him, and from sales clerk he rose to assistant manager, to manager, to buyer, to sales representative, to national account manager, and to the author of THE AGE OF THE CONGLOMERATES. When he is not writing or working for Random House, he is watching the Mets (groaning is more like it), or playing the drums in his basement. He likes his rock and roll loud, simple and with a beat, and if it’s rebellious, or broken hearted, all the better. He lives with two teachers and a partner and kids who help keep him busy and keep it real. It seems, at all times, he has a large cup of coffee on hand and a song in his heart.