Q & A
A Novel

Name: Q & A
Brand: Blackstone Audiobooks
Availability: InStock
Author: Vikas Swarup
ISBN: 9781572707160

Author: Vikas Swarup

Narrator: Kerry Shale

Abridged: 6 hr 8 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Published: 09/09/2005

Categories: Fiction, Literary Fiction

Synopsis

Vikas Swarup's spectacular debut novel opens in a jail cell in Mumbai, India, where Ram Mohammad Thomas is being held after correctly answering all twelve questions on India's biggest quiz show, Who Will Win a Billion? It is hard to believe that a poor orphan who has never read a newspaper or gone to school could win such a contest. But through a series of exhilarating tales Ram explains to his lawyer how episodes in his life gave him the answer to each question. Ram takes us on an amazing review of his own history—from the day he was found as a baby in the clothes donation box of a Delhi church to his employment by a faded Bollywood star to his adventure with a security-crazed Australian army colonel to his career as an overly creative tour guide at the Taj Mahal. Swarup's Q & A is a beguiling blend of high comedy, drama, and romance that reveals how we know what we know—not just about trivia, but about life itself. Cutting across humanity in all its squalor and glory, Vikas Swarup presents a kaleidoscopic vision of the struggle between good and evil—and what happens when one boy has no other choice in life but to survive.

About Vikas Swarup

Vikas Swarup’s first novel was made into the Oscar Award–winning film Slumdog Millionaire and has been translated into over forty languages. Swarup has written for Time, Newsweek, the Guardian, the Telegraph, and the Financial Times. An Indian diplomat, he has been posted to Turkey, the United States, Ethiopia, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Japan. He lives in India.

About Kerry Shale

Kerry Shale is a Sony Radio Academy Award winner, a narrator of dozens of audio books, and an actor in films as diverse as Yentl and Welcome to Sarajevo. He won an Audie Award for his narration of Q&A.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Baba on January 02, 2023

Original published as 'Q&A' before being converted into a screenplay for Slumdog Millionaire. A wonderful tale of how a waiter appears to win a lot of money on W2B, India's 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' as he explains to lawyer from a police cell how he managed to answer each question by revealing......more

Goodreads review by Tea on November 12, 2015

MUST READ! MUST READ! One of the books I've discovered for Serbia, and I'm very proud of doing it much before the movie is made or won the Oscar... This book has that "something" that makes you instantly fell in love with it from first sentence... And you don't forget it ages later... It took quite......more

Goodreads review by Amy on January 18, 2009

I was completely unenchanted with the movie Slumdog Millionaire; the story, I felt, was predictable with characters that were totally uninteresting or completely unlikable. However, much as I was unimpressed with the movie, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was the kernel of a very interesting......more

Goodreads review by Majenta on April 09, 2016

What's the saying? "You are the sum total of your life's experiences"? This is the book that presents a very young man who has already racked up quite the collection of life experiences, just by experiencing each day of his existence. Luckily and happily, he can put this extraordinary existence to u......more

Goodreads review by Leigh-ann on December 31, 2008

I was torn about how to rate this book. On one hand, I just loved the unusual plot, and could have easily given it 5 stars. On the other hand, wow, I don't remember the last time I read anything so blatantly homophobic. Three different male characters, two of whom are clearly identified as "gay", we......more

Quotes

“Swarup is an accomplished storyteller, and Q & A has all the immediacy and impact of an oral account.” Daily Mail (London)

“Q & A is that rare novel that chugs along on the parallel tracks of being a rollicking read as well as being a polished, varnished, finished work of impressive craftsmanship.” Hindustan Times (India)

“It was an inspired idea by Vikas Swarup to write Q & A…A broad and sympathetic humanity underpins the whole book.” Sunday Telegraph (London)

“A very clever story told very cleverly and at a relentless pace.” Sydney Morning Herald

“[A] rare, seemingly effortless brew of humor, drama, romance, and social realism…[Swarup] has achieved a triumph with this thrilling, endearing work which gets into the heart and soul of modern India.” New Zealand Herald

“Vikas Swarup weaves a delightful yarn. With an easy style, Q & A is sweet, sorrowful, and funny. An enchanting tale.” Sunday Tribune (India)