Read: Maximum City

I’ve never been to India. For all I know I’ll never go to India. I want to go. And I’ve been asked to go in the past, but always short trips, like a week to ten days, and I refuse to shortchange a place like India. I won’t go unless I’ve got at least three months, and even then I would focus on one place or region. I’ve never been a speed traveling, knocking of passport stamps to try and impress someone, or a “I’ve been to “X” amount of countries,” person. Who cares? Do you actually KNOW anything about the countries, or did you just tourist them to death? I digress. This book “Maximum City,” is mind-blowing in good and bad ways.(The writing is good but what you learn is good/bad.) Suketu Mehta is a smooth writer, and he’s got a long-term relationship with the city of Bombay. He breaks down the city by following, and detailing at great length, specific people. A cop, a dancer, a hitman, a movie director, and the more you learn the more you realize there isn’t anywhere on Earth quite like this place, but with that comes both good and evil. Get it, read it.

PS: The cover photograph……Salgado.