Narcopolis

Wait now, light me up so we do this right, yes, hold me steady to the lamp, hold it, hold, good, a slow pull to start with, to draw the smoke low into the lungs, yes, oh my... Shuklaji Street, in Old Bombay. In Rashid's opium room the air is thick with voices and ghosts: Hindu, Muslim, Christian. A young woman holds a long-stemmed pipe over a flame, her hair falling across her eyes. Men sprawl and mutter in the gloom. Here, they say you introduce only your worst enemy to opium. There is an underworld whisper of a new terror: the Pathar Maar, the stone killer, whose victims are the nameless, invisible poor. In the broken city, there are too many to count. Stretching across three decades, with an interlude in Mao's China, it portrays a city in collision with itself. With a cast of pimps, pushers, poets, gangsters and eunuchs, it is a journey into a sprawling underworld written in electric and utterly original prose. Shuklaji Street, In Old Bombay. In Rashid's Opium Room The Air Is Thick And Potent. A Beautiful Young Woman Leans To Hold A Long-stemmed Pipe Over A Flame, Her Hair Falling Across Her Dark Eyes. Around Her, Men Sprawl And Mutter In The Gloom, Each One Drifting With His Own Tide. Here, People Say That You Introduce Only Your Worst Enemy To Opium. Outside, Stray Dogs Lope In Packs. Street Vendors Hustle. Hookers Call For Custom Through The Bars Of Their Cages As Their Pimps Slouch In Doorways In The Half-light. There Is An Underworld Whisper Of A New Terror: The Pathar Maar, The Stone Killer, Whose Victims Are The Nameless, Invisible Poor. There Are Too Many Of Them To Count In This Broken City. Machine Generated Contents Note: Book One The City Of O -- 1.dimple -- 2.rumi On Pimps -- 3.a Painter Visits -- 4.mr Lee's Lessons In Living -- Book Two The Story Of The Pipe -- 1.in Spain With Mr Lee -- 2.white Lotus, White Clouds -- 3.'opium-smoking Bandit' -- 4.his Father, The Insect -- 5.'light Me A Cigarette' -- 6.to Wuhan -- 7.twice Abducted -- 8.to Bombay -- 9.the Pipe Comes To Rashid's -- Book Three The Intoxicated -- 1.a Walk On Shuklaji Street -- 2.bengali -- 3.business Practices Among The Criminal Class: An Offer -- 4.the Sari And The Burkha -- 5.'dum Maro Dum' -- 6.stinking Asafoetida -- 7.business Practices Among The Criminal Class: C & E -- 8.a Chemical Understanding -- 9.the Intoxicated Entity -- 10.confessional -- 11.flight -- 12.rehab, Relapse -- Book Four Some Uses Of Reincarnation -- 1.a Large Accumulation Of Small Defeats -- 2.the Citizen. Jeet Thayil. A tale of vice and passion set against a backdrop of late 1970s Bombay finds a New Yorker becoming entranced with the underworld culture of an opium den and brothel where he encounters a pipe-making eunuch, a violent businessman, and a Chinese refugee Portrays a city in collision with itself. With a cast of pimps, pushers, poets, gangsters and eunuchs, this title is a journey into a sprawling underworld.