The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

I picked this book up in the Portland airport while Doug and I were waiting for my dad to arrive. The Powell's book salesman said he really liked it. I thought the author did a good job of describing the lives of the rich new Indians as well as the rural poor who go to work for them in the big city. Ultimately it was pretty depressing as the rich are corrupt and abuse the poor. Balram starts out in school with the name boy (munna) because his family never named him. He shows talent and wins a scholarship. Alas he has to leave school and go help his brother work in a tea shop. Balram is interested in getting ahead as an "entrepreneur". He says, " And our nation though it has no drinking water, electricity, sewage, sense of hygiene, discipline, courtesy, or punctuality, does have entrepreneurs. Thousands and thousands of them. Especially in technology. And these entrepreneurs- we entrepreneurs have set up all these companies that virtually run America." He learns to drive and becomes the chauffeur for Mr. Ashok and Pinky Madam, a wealthy couple. Balram moves to the big city with them and they all begin a downward spiral, murdering his boss in the end.