A Free Man - Hardcover

Aman Sethi was born in Bombay in 1983. He studied chemistry in Delhi, and journalism in Chennai and New York. He is currently the Chhattisgarh correspondent for The Hindu. This is his first book.

''A deeply moving, funny, and brilliantly written account from one of India's most original new voices.'' --Katherine Boo, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Behind the Beautiful Forevers

''As a writer, Sethi has a keen eye for detail and a sense of perception that succeeds in drawing the reader into the murky underbelly of Ashraf s world. Laced with black humor, A Free Man is a clever study of contrasting lives that amuse and perturb in equal measures.'' --The National

''Funny, poignant, and deeply moving,A Free Man is an extraordinary vignette into an extraordinary life.'' --Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies

''A Free Man is stunning. It reminds me of that Victorian masterpiece of investigative journalism, Henry Mayhew's London Labour and London Poor. Aman Sethi 'gets' modern India better than any other journalist I know. Not only is he a remarkable reporter and storyteller, but he possesses a novelist's ear for language, sense of the absurd, and perfect pitch. I'm bowled over, totally.'' --Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind and Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic Genius

''A Free Man is a brilliant capturing of the language and bloodstream of a city. Aman Sethi has made a book that's remarkable in its voice and evocation.'' --Michael Ondaatje, author of The English Patient

''A Free Man is a beautiful work of journalism, sympathetic and graceful. The author follows, and progressively befriends, a homeless day laborer in Delhi. What starts as classic ethnography becomes a gripping story, and ends as a homage to a lost friend.'' --Esther Duflo, author of Poor Economics and MacArthur Fellow

''With A Free Man, Aman Sethi comes to the forefront of an extraordinary new generation of Indian nonfiction writers. His compassion and humor is matched by a fierce determination to tell the stories of ordinary Indians, too often forgotten in the scramble for the spoils of the economic boom.'' --Hari Kunzru, author of Gods Without Men

''Funny and disturbing.'' --Arundhati Roy, author of The God of Small Things