Behind the Beautiful Forevers - Group Discussion

[Megan]

Welcome to our group discussion of Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity.

Discussion Question: What was your initial reaction to this book? This could be your reaction when starting to read the book, when hearing of the book selection for our book club, seeing the cover image, etc.

[Megan]

Discussion Question: Barbara Ehrenreich calls Behind the Beautiful Forevers “one of the most powerful indictments of economic inequality I’ve ever read.” Yet the book shows the world of the Indian rich–lavish Bollywood parties, an increasingly glamorous new airport–almost exclusively through the eyes of the Annawadians. Are they resentful? Are they envious? How does the wealth that surrounds the slumdwellers shape their own expectations and hopes?