Tuesday, February 24, 2009


Slumdog Millionaire novelist Swarup set to reap Oscar rewards
Alison Flood writing in the guardian.co.uk, Monday 23 February 2009

Director Danny Boyle won't be the only person in raptures at the board-sweeping success of Slumdog Millionaire at the Oscars last night: Vikas Swarup, author of the book on which the film is based, is also likely to be rubbing his hands together in glee.

Swarup's Q&A, (Doubleday/Transworld), the colourful tale of how an 18-year-old boy from the slums manages to win one billion rupees on a television game show, was ticking along at a perfectly average rate before Boyle filmed it for the big screen as Slumdog Millionaire, selling some 35,000 copies since publication three years ago, according to book sales monitor Nielsen BookScan.

But the film's initial success at the Golden Globes in January, coupled with pre-Oscar buzz, means the novel has sold the same amount of copies in the last month-and-a-half, according to the Bookseller, which reports that the paperback film tie-in edition has sold 35,666 copies since it was published on 2 January this year.
And the film's triumph at last night's Academy Awards, where it picked up gongs including best film, best director and best adapted screenplay, means sales of the book are set to climb even higher.

3 comments:

Rachael King said...

The film is very different from the book, and I think better. It's almost a case of reading a book and going "oh that gives me a good idea for a film".

Beattie's Book Blog said...

I wish you hadn't said that Rachael, I enjoyed the book and now feel a little reluctant to see the film.

Rachael King said...

I enjoyed the book too, and I enjoyed the film even more. It's a whole different experience. It has different characters and a different overarching story - it is much less episodic and more cohesive. Go and see it - just forget the book and enjoy it for what it is!