Katherine Boo spent three years among the residents of the Annawadi slum, a sprawling, cockeyed settlement of more than 300 tin-roof huts and shacks in the shadow of Mumbaiœs International Airport. From within this sumpy plug of slum· Boo unearths stories both tragic and poignant--about residentsœ efforts to raise families, earn a living, or simply survive. These unforgettable characters all nurture far-fetched dreams of a better life. As one boy tells his brother: Everything around us is roses. And weœre like the s**t in between.· A New Yorker writer and recipient of a Pulitzer Prize and a MacArthur Genius· grant, Booœs writing is superb and the depth and courage of her reporting from this hidden world is astonishing. At times, itœs hard to believe this is nonfiction.

Prologue: between roses -- Undercitizens. Annawadi -- Asha -- Sunil -- Manju -- The business of burning. Ghost house -- A hole she called a window -- A come-apart -- The master -- A little wildness. Marquee effect -- Parrots, caught and sold -- Proper sleep -- Up and out. Nine nights of dance -- Something shining á -- The trial -- Ice -- Black and white -- A school, a hospital, a cricket field.