Man on Fire

Bibhuti Nayak really exists. His record-breaking achievements have drawn press attention across the world, he is fully supportive of Stephen's novel and will help publicise itWith echoes of The Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and The Other Hand, Man on Fire once again shows Kelman's gift for creating voices that sing off the page and characters who will stay with you for everPigeon English was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, the Guardian First Book Award and the Desmond Elliott Prize, and has sold over 200,000 copies in all editionsStephen Kelman was born in Luton in 1976. Pigeon English, his first novel, was shortlisted for the 2011 Man Booker Prize, the Desmond Elliott Prize and the Guardian First Book Award, and he was also shortlisted for the New Writer of the Year Award at the 2011 Galaxy National Book Awards. Pigeon English is a set text on the GCSE syllabus. Stephen lives in St Albans.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.An unforgettable story of faith, forgiveness and second chances, Man on Fire is a powerful and touching novel from the Booker and Guardian-shortlisted author of Pigeon EnglishMan 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 empathyKelman gives an intoxicating picture of Mumbai in all its chaos, which is a neat contrast to Bibhuti's mindfulnessMan 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 weaknessAn 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 funnyThis 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 rewardedIn 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 differenceHe has a fine eye for sketching delightful scenes: a shipment of snow globes saves during the monsoon; a group of monks dedicated to table tennisAn original tale about faith, friendship and determination . an enthralling novel by a writer of considerable talentOne of the most quirky books I have ever read ... A revelatory and very touching book