The white tiger

WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2008Balram Halwai is the WhiteTiger – the smartest boy in his village. Hisfamily is too poor for himto afford for him to finish school and he hasto work in a teashop,breaking coals and wiping tables. But Balram getshis break when a richman hires him as a chauffeur, and takes him tolive in Delhi. The cityis a revelation. As he drives his master toshopping malls and callcentres, Balram becomes increasingly aware ofimmense wealth andopportunity all around him, while knowing that he will never beable to gain access to that world. As Balram broods overhis situation,he realizes that there is only one way he can become partof thisglamorous new India – by murdering his master.The White Tiger presents a raw and unromanticised India, both thrilling and shocking – from the desperate, almost lawless villages along the Ganges, to the boomingWildSouth of Bangalore and its technology and outsourcing centres. The first-person confession of a murderer, The White Tiger is as compelling for its subject matter as for the voice of its narrator – amoral, cynical, unrepentant, yet deeply endearing.