title: A Fine Balance
author:  Rohinton Mistry 
description: "Astonishing. . . . A rich and varied spectacle, full of wisdom and laughter and the touches of the unexpectedly familiar through which literature illuminates life." --<i>Wall Street Journal<br /><br /></i>"Monumental. . . . Few have caught the real sorrow and inexplicable strength of India, the unaccountable crookedness and sweetness, as well as Mistry." --Pico Iyer, <i>Time<br /><br /></i>"Those who continue to harp on the decline of the novel . . . ought to consider Rohinton Mistry. He needs no infusion of magic realism to vivify the real. The real world, through his eyes, is magical." --<i>The New York Times<br /><br /></i>"A serious and important work . . . the product of high intelligence and passionate conviction."<i> </i>--<i>New York Review of Books</i>
zlib_text: ![](Images/image00457.jpeg)
  
  **A Fine Balance**
  
  **by Rohinton Mistry**
  
   **eForeword**
  
  As Christina Nunez wrote in Atlantic, “[Mistry] has long been recognized as
  one of the best Indian writers; he ought to be considered simply one of the
  best writers, Indian or otherwise, now alive.” Twice short-listed for
  England’s prestigious Booker Prize, Rohinton Mistry was broadly introduced to
  American readers when A Fine Balance was an Oprah Book Club selection in 2001.
  
  Rohinton Mistry has not lived in his native India for many years; but like
  many expatriate writers, he continues a relationship with his country in his
  writings and has enriched his readers’ understanding of it. After emigrating
  to Toronto in 1975, Rohinton Mistry got a job as a bank clerk and ascended to
  the supervisor of customer service after a few years.
  
  His dissatisfaction in the job led to his taking classes in English, first at
  York College, and ultimately pursuing a degree part-time at the University of
  Toronto.
  
  Roh