This book reminds of me the naipaul travel books. More reporting and less opinions as compared to naipaul. Author actually lived in bombay for some years instead of just passing through it. Allows you to look at bombay from different perspectives of diverse kinds of people who live there. Illustrates the wonderful and tragic complexity of modern day life in an Indian city. I would like to see naipaul's review of this book. Where naipaul sees "Areas of Darkness" when he visits India, Suketu shows the real stuff, good and bad. Highly recommended. Should be made the "Official Book of Bombay".

One of the better books I've come across in terms of trying to capture Bombay as it is, and the author does a pretty good job....almost. Author does a pretty good job following the lives of some fascinating people, including those from the Bombay underworld. He paints a really vivid picture of the city, which is both fascinating and disturbing. Overall, it gives a pretty accurate description of the city and its workings.

Most amazing travelogue I have ever read. Beautifully written. A must read for anyone interested in Bombay, India, Asia, Cities, people, stories, love, hate, fear, religion, life.

They say "no news is good news". In the same spirit, this book dwells on the dark side of Bombay. It would have been fine if the title would have claimed this upfront. But, we are led to believe that the book would be about Bombay itself. While the book is still about Bombay, it is not the complete picture. It would be difficult to characterize all the different facets of a complicated city like Bombay. But, to say that Bombay is all about sex, bar dancers and delusional gangsters is nothing short of preposterous.Do NOT buy this book unless you are interested in these "sensational" aspects of Bombay.

Mr. Mehta has lost the plot. He returned after 21 years to find the city different. What did he expect? I mean seriously...Heck I returned after 3 yrs and found a massive difference. The character of the city is such that it constantly keeps evolving. Was New York the same 21 years ago? Mr. Mehta is a gifted writer - it's not how he writes but rather what he writes that is important. And he writes utter crap - you can't possible raturn to a city after 21 years and say "Oh boy! It's not how I left it!" Some authors love potray the negative aspects of India cause it pleases the western reader - they empathize with him. Bombay has its share of flaws. I'd rather live here than anywhere else.

I think the author does a good job of capturing the attitude of "secular" indians. It seems to me that the author almost feels that the Bombay bomb blasts were actually justified. It an appalling state of affairs that many Indians actually follow this line of thought. For that perspective alone this book is worth reading. No matter how much it offends you.On a more technical note, the way the author makes conclusions from the data points he presents is clearly intended to convince someone who is not aware of the context. For example, the author makes a claim about how Bal Thakeray mentioned Ram Mandir and Lucknow in one sentence and how that means Bal Thackeray thinks Ram Mandir is in Ayodhya. What that basically means is that either the author has pretty weak reasoning skills or that his hate and disgust for people prevent him from making an objective inference. Both of those reasons are strong enough to give this book a 1 star.