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Q and A Paperback – Import, January 1, 2006

by Vikas Swarup (Author)

4.4 517 ratings

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Why is a penniless waiter from Mumbai sitting in a prison cell?

Is it because: a)he has punched a customer; b)he has drunk too much whisky; c)he has taken money from the till; or d)he is the biggest quiz-show winner in history? Ram Mohammad Thomas has been arrested. For answering twelve questions correctly on Who Will Win A Billion? Because a poor orphan who has never read a newspaper or gone to school cannot know the name of the President of America, or the location of the Pyramids, or the plays of Shakespeare. Unless he has cheated.

Rescued from the police cell by a lawyer, Ram reviews television footage of his flawless performance and takes us on an amazing tour of his life – from the day he is salvaged from a dustbin, to his employment with a faded Bollywood star, to meeting a security-crazed Australian colonel, by way of a career as an over-creative tour guide at the Taj Mahal, to falling in love with Nita, a young prostitute. Passed from pillar to post for eighteen years, Ram’s instinct for strategy and survival is infallible.

Stunning a TV audience of millions, he draws on a store of street wisdom and trivia to provide him with the essential keys, not only to the quiz show, but to life itself. Set in modern India, Q&A is a beguiling blend of high comedy and touching melancholy. Cutting across humanity in all its squalor and glory, Vikas Swarup presents a kaleidoscopic vision of the struggle of good against evil, and what happens when one boy has no other choice in life but to survive.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Transworld Publ. Ltd UK; New Ed edition (January 1, 2006)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 382 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 055277250X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0552772501
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.64 x 4.88 x 0.91 inches

Customer Reviews:
4.4 517 ratings

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4.4 out of 5

517 global ratings

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Virginia Brocki

Better than any movie!

Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2008

Verified Purchase

Will go see "Slum Dog Millionaire" but will bet it won't be as good as this book. "First Novel" efforts are often an authors' best effort and that may be true here. We will see. Let us have more to judge!
"Q+A" managed to be frank, yet funny, and offered a view of Indian life that this westerner could relate to. We are not so different!

2 people found this helpful

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Therese Van Durme

Refreshing and challenging

Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2013

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I read this book after the movie and was equally moved by the story. The description of the Indian society, viewed through the eyes of the main character was very interesting. I liked the building of the different parts of the narratives very much.

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Kindle Customer

An Absolutely Fascinating Story

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2013

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Twelve short stories woven into an intricate pattern and it all comes together in a riveting climax. You just never know which events in life will come back to help or haunt you.

Good Humor Man

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Gary Hill

Q&A, a book by Vikas Swarup

Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2009

Verified Purchase

Q&A is the book on which the movie Slumdog Millionaire was based. It offers a very good look at several different societies and life-styles in India. This is one of the best reads I've had in some time; and I highly recommend it for readers of any age.

One person found this helpful

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Juliana

J

Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2014

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It is an excellent book! I enjoyed when I read this book. I like because I can learn new vocabulary. I recommend to read it!

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Margaret Iaquinto

Q&A - Slumdog Milliionaire

Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2013

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Delightful story lines. Seeing the world through the eyes of this young boy. It goes to show that no education goes wasted. I couldn't put the book down.

Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2014

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Just could not put the book down. A gripping story that's interesting in every page. Proud that he is an Indian author!

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2015

I saw Slumdog Millionaire before I knew it was a novel. Unfortunately, I liked the movie a little better, and, from the reviews I've read, I'm not alone in this. The book is extremely detailed; and I mean detailed. I don't know if I've ever read a book with such tiny details about every single character and setting. After a few minutes into each story, I started to get really bored and lost interest and spent much of the time trying to guess which piece of information would be the next question. And I will say that the book is almost nothing like the movie. I was thrown by the twist at the end, but in a good way.

I listened to the audio version of this novel and I will say that Christopher Simpson did an excellent job switching between the different characters and their voices.

If you really liked the movie then I think you will enjoy the book. If you just had a passing interest in the movie then you might not enjoy this book.

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Top reviews from other countries

Danni

Undoubtedly, the best book I've read in years.

Reviewed in Mexico on April 22, 2021

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This is a story which touches you in a way others couldn't. You realize that life is lent to us, and as Ram, you have to just grab it and face it in every different way you can, getting a huge amount of practical, actual knowledge from it. Sometimes it'll bring periods of brief happiness, sometimes might bring a serial of unfortunate events, even tragedies; nevertheless, even unaware of such fact, you might discover yourself getting to crossroads with your inner self in life, and in that way, you're really building your own fate from within. The book is pretty well thought, and written in such an intelligent way, you can see how, in each episode from Ram's life, every single experience he went through, was a part of the package of empirical knowledge which allowed him to contest in a way even people at stardom, PhD students or even scholars, never could. What an amazing, touching book. I loved it!