The suburbs of Mumbai do not resemble the West's green acres of semi-detached domesticity. They are more like chaotic city-centres—with basic planning, like the water supply, an afterthought. Aravind Adiga's first novel since he won the 2008 Man Booker pri2e is set in a crumbling five-storey residential tower, Vishram Society, in one such suburb, Vakola. Peopled by the ageing middle class of pre-liberalisation India—accountants, middlemen and small entrepreneurs— the tower receives a generous offer from a builder, Dharmen Shah. Mr Shah wants to buy out the residents and replace their embarrassing edifice to socialism with a new tower called Confidence Shanghai. "Gothic style, Rajput touch, Art Deco fountain", it will be a shining emblem of the New India.
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