Shantaram

During my time alone in the Andamans, I read Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts. Actually, I devoured it: 933 pages in four days.

It’s the mostly true story of the years the author spent in Bombay, after having escaped a jail sentence for armed robbery in Australia. Really.

So this guy goes to live in a Bombay slum while hustling tourists in Colaba. The neat thing about all the geographical references in the city is that I knew most of them personally, which lent it special resonance for me.

He learns Hindi and Marathi, get thrown into and sprung out of jail, joins the mafia, runs guns on a mission to Afghanistan, and has an unsuccessful relationship. But this is one sensitive and insightful guy.

Shantaram gets the Skye Frontier 2007 Must Read Book award.