Man On Fire - Tapa blanda

Man on Fire is astonishingly moving in its heartbreak and humour ... About 50 pages into this enchanting book, I discovered that it is a true story and Bibhuti is a real man ... Man on Fire does what a novel at its best can do; underneath the humour and pathos and Bibhuti's hopes and dreams, we find an account of India itself. Out of this unlikely material, Stephen Kelman has written a book of profound beauty and deep empathy -- Justin Cartwright * Observer * Kelman gives an intoxicating picture of Mumbai in all its chaos, which is a neat contrast to Bibhuti's mindfulness * The Sunday Times Ireland * Man on Fire, in essence, is like a buddy movie with a spiritual bent; that this spirituality comes from the most unlikely source is its strength, and not a weakness -- Erica Wagner * Guardian * An enthralling fictionalised part-biography of Bibhuti, is Kelman's moving tribute to the Times of India journalist ... Kelman - no relation to James, although he shares the great Glaswegian's ability to write dark, gut-wrenching books full of life and energy, and that are often very funny -- Jackie McGlone * Sunday Herald * This confirms his ability to evoke deep emotion. Its hybrid fact-and-fiction subject probably won't attract as many readers as his first book, but those who venture will be richly rewarded -- Daily Mail * John Harding * In a glorious opening monologue that manages to be hilarious and sympathetic, Bibhuti recounts his inaugural boundary-buster: receiving 43 kicks to his unprotected groin ... Whatever the result, Bibhuti is certainly a wonderful creation who resists prat-falling into reductive buffoonery thanks to Kelman's nicely measured portrait ... Man on Fire is a strange, arresting novel that is borne aloft by two vivid protagonists, and threated together by a delicate chain of imagery ... the novel offers a salutary meditation on time: how we fill it, how we waste is and the tricky challenge of telling the difference -- James Kidd * Independent * He has a fine eye for sketching delightful scenes: a shipment of snow globes saves during the monsoon; a group of monks dedicated to table tennis -- Jeffrey Burke * Irish Mail on Sunday * An original tale about faith, friendship and determination ... an enthralling novel by a writer of considerable talent * Financial Times * One of the most quirky books I have ever read ... A revelatory and very touching book * Observer, Books of the Year 2015 *

I was beating the life out of Bibhuti with a baseball bat when my first monsoon broke... John Lock has come to India to meet his destiny: a destiny dressed in a white karate suit and sporting an impressive moustache. He has fled the quiet desperation of his life in England: decades wasted in a meaningless job, a marriage foundering in the wake of loss and a terrible secret he cannot bear to share with his wife. He has come to offer his help to a man who has learned to conquer pain, a world record breaker who specialises in feats of extreme endurance and ill-advised masochism. Bibhuti Nayak's next record attempt - to have fifty baseball bats broken over his body - will set the seal on a career that has seen him rise from poverty to become a minor celebrity in a nation where standing out from the crowd requires tenacity, courage and perhaps a touch of madness. In answering Bibhuti's call for assistance, John hopes to rewrite a brave end to a life poorly lived. But as they take their leap of faith together, and John is welcomed into Bibhuti's family, and into the colour and chaos of Mumbai - where he encounters ping-pong-playing monks, a fearless seven-year-old martial arts warrior and an old man longing for the monsoon to wash him away - he learns more about life, and death, and everything in between than he could ever have bargained for.