A native of Bombay, Suketu Mehta gives us an insider’s view of this stunning metropolis. He approaches the city from unexpected angles, taking us into the criminal underworld of rival Muslim and Hindu gangs; following the life of a bar dancer raised amid poverty and abuse; opening the door into the inner sanctums of Bollywood; and delving into the stories of the countless villagers who come in search of a better life and end up living on the sidewalks.

“What Dickens did for London, what Joseph Mitchell did for New York City, Suketu Mehta has done for Bombay. . . . A candid, extensive, and wholly entertaining portrait.” –San Diego Union-Tribune

A brilliantly illuminating portrait of Bombay and its people-a book as vast, diverse, and rich in experience, incident, and sensation as the city itself-from an award-winning Indian-American fiction writer and journalist.

A native of Bombay, Suketu Mehta gives us a true insider's view of this stunning city, bringing to his account a rare level of insight, detail, and intimacy. He approaches the city from unexpected angles-taking us into the criminal underworld of rival Muslim and Hindu gangs who wrest control of the city's byzantine political and commercial systems . . . following the life of a bar dancer who chose the only life available to her after a childhood of poverty and abuse . . . opening the doors onto the fantastic, hierarchical inner sanctums of Bollywood . . . delving into the stories of the countless people who come from the villages in search of a better life and end up living on the sidewalks-the essential saga of a great city endlessly played out.

Through it all-as each individual story unfolds-we hear Mehta's own story: of the mixture of love, frustration, fascination, and intense identification he feels for and with Bombay, as he tries to find home again after twenty-one years abroad. And he makes clear that Bombay-the world's largest city-is a harbinger of the vast megalopolises that will redefine the very idea of "the city" in the near future.

Candid, impassioned, funny, and heartrending, "Maximum City is a revelation of an ancient and ever-changing world.

"From the Hardcover edition.

This brilliantly illuminating portrait of Bombay and its people--a book as vast, diverse, and rich in experience, incident, and sensation as the city itself--is from an award-winning Indian journalist and fiction writer.

PART ONE * POWER

Personal Geography

—The Country of the No

—Two Currencies

Powertoni

—The 1992–93 Riots

—Elections 1998

—The Saheb

Mumbai

Number Two After Scotland Yard

—Ajay Lal: The Blasts and the Gangwar

—Encounter

Black-Collar Workers

—Mohsin: The D-Company

—Satish: The Dal Badlu

—Chotta Shakeel: The Don in Exile

PART TWO * PLEASURE

Vadapav Eaters’ City

A City in Heat

—Monalisa Dances

—Golpitha

—Two Lives: Honey/Manoj

—New Year’s Eve

Distilleries of Pleasure

—Vidhu Vinod Chopra: Mission Kashmir

—Mahesh Bhatt’s Wound

—The Struggler and the Goddess

—Accused: Sanjay Dutt

—Dreamworld/Underworld

PART THREE * PASSAGES

Memory Mines

—Mayur Mahal Multipurpose

—A World of Children

Sone ki Chidiya

—Girish: A Tourist in His City

—Babbanji: Runaway Poet

—Adjust

Good-bye World

A Self in the Crowd

Afterword

Acknowledgments