... brainless, really." I would defend Mistry, because I have been to Bombay a couple of times and find his descriptions on target, just as Anita Desai's were in Baumgartner's Bombay (1988). Both writers catch the city's squalid side, the poverty, disorder, filth and ruin, the chaos, but at the same time engage its immense vitality and diversity. There is, in fact, an admirable balance ... heavy with irony. In contrast, the less fortunate survive by achieving what one character calls "a fine balance between hope and despair." This summary merely skims over the agony these haunting characters...

• Word Count: 4673
• Approx Pages: 19
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... brainless, really." I would defend Mistry, because I have been to Bombay a couple of times and find his descriptions on target, just as Anita Desai's were in Baumgartner's Bombay (1988). Both writers catch the city's squalid side, the poverty, disorder, filth and ruin, the chaos, but at the same time engage its immense vitality and diversity. There is, in fact, an admirable balance ... heavy with irony. In contrast, the less fortunate survive by achieving what one character calls "a fine balance between hope and despair." This summary merely skims over the agony these haunting characters...

• Word Count: 4675
• Approx Pages: 19
• Grade Level: Undergraduate