The book

Q & A is a novel by Vikas Swarup, an Indian diplomat. Published in 2005, it was the author's first novel. Set in India, it tells the story of Ram Mohammad Thomas, a poor young waiter who becomes the biggest quiz-show winner in history, only to be sent to jail on accusations (but with no evidence or proof) that he cheated (tricher) . It was the basis of the 2008 feature film Slumdog Millionaire.

Plot

Narrated in the first person, the novel follows the life of the young waiter as he explains to his sympathetic (compatissant) lawyer, Smita Shah, just how he managed to answer twelve random (without link) questions, by pure luck. As he says, "Well, wasn't I lucky they only asked those questions to which I knew the answers?"

Ram goes on to tell her how by drawing (inspired) from the experiences of his own short, yet turbulent and sometimes cruel life he, a poor, young waiter, managed to (arriver à) answer the twelve questions that led him to the jackpot.

The author has said that he was inspired by the Hole in the Wall project which installed a computer in a Delhi slum (poor neighborhood). Young children taught themselves about the use of computers without intervention from the experimenters.

Reception

Q & A won South Africa's Boeke Prize 2006. It was also shortlisted (nominated) for the Best First Book by the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and won the Prix Grand Public at the 2007 Paris Book Fair.

To date, the book has sold translation rights in 40 languages, including French, German, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Slovenian, Greek, Croatian, Turkish, Icelandic, Chinese, Russian, Norwegian, Swedish, Bulgarian, Romanian, Serbian, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Sinhalese, Indonesian, Thai, Japanese, Hebrew, and Portuguese.

Paula Bedok, Joanna Morales