Gregory David Roberts - Shantaram

Lift our eyes to the snarl and smile of the world once more.

Think. Act. Feel. Add our little consequence to the tides of good and evil that flood and drain the world. Drag our shadowed crosses into the hope of another night. Push our brave hearts into the promise of a new day. With love: the passionate search for a truth other than our own. With longing: the pure, ineffable yearning to be saved. For so long as fate keeps waiting, we live on. God help us. God forgive us. We live on.

I wrote the first lines of Shantaram thirteen years before I wrote the last. Many people have been involved with the project during those years, and have helped me in ways great or small. In making this grateful acknowledgement I am sure that, unintentionally, some names will be omitted. I ask those friends and colleagues to forgive me.

I want to thank my publishers at Scribe and, in particular, Henry Rosenbloom, who saw the love in this book, and who held his nerve when the chips were down-you can't ask more than that in any context; my editor, Margot Rosenbloom, for providing me with a loving edit that was always a brave but regardful combination of head and heart; the agent for the project, Jenny Darling, whose insightful suggestions helped me to make Shantaram a better book than it ever could have been without her; the book's designer, Miriam Rosenbloom, for the imaginative elegance with which she graced the project; the inspiring team at Pan Macmillan, for their enthusiastic and enduring encouragement; Debbie McInnes, the book's full-hearted and tireless local publicist; Aysha Rowe and Jenny Nagle, who championed the book in Aotearoa New Zealand;

Jessika and Nick, for their being and their courage and their joy; Nick, Mary, Paris, and Blaise, for keeping the faith in their absent friend; my mother and my stepfather, whose unflagging moral, spiritual, and financial support-beyond what I have ever deserved or could repay-has sustained me, and uplifted this work; and my partner, Shula, who has been the first positive word and the last loving line of defence.

And, reaching back through those thirteen years, I also want to thank the following colleagues and loved ones: Allan and Maria Almeida, Trish Anderson, Chloris and Chris Bath, Christine Boyle, Kerry Boxall, Buckley Bullock, Grant Carey, William Carey, Sarah Carroll, Tracy Carroll, Alfredo Cerda, Paul Chamberlain, Narayan Chandrashekar, Julia Chennels, Glen and Bindi Choyce, Sue Coley, Celia Conor, Tom Cooper, Graeme Corcoran, Daniella Cripa, Malcolm Crook, Alison Davidson, Mark Davis, Danny Derse, James Dorabjee, Paul Dornbusch, Cameron Drake, Suzannah Espie, Lindsay Forbes, Kate Galloway, Con Gantinas, Richard Gelemanovic, Claudia Glenewinkel, Linnet Good, Nicholas Goodwin, Sherridan Green, Ingrid Grobel, Lutz Grossman, Anna Hampson, Justine Hampson, Jason and Victoria Hartcup, Wendy Hatfield, Robbie Heazlewood, Chris, Lee, and Ian Hunter, Pietro The Colonel Iodice, Bashka Jacobs, Su Jamison, Sandy Jarrett, Jenny and Stuart, Julie Jordanou, Yusuf Mohammed Khan, Daniel Keays, Val Keogh, Ranyana Khotari, Glen King, Andy Kirkland, Dr.

Sue Knight, Clay Lafferty, Dr. John Lattanzio, Marc Lawrence, Kevin Leighton, Lisette, Myriam Leo, Paul Linacre, Gnter Lck, Dr. Mohammed al Mahdi, Amad Malkoun, Big Mick Mantzaris, Pat Martin, Nick and Christine Matheou, Maximillian, Elaine May, John McAuslan, Joan McQueen, Martin and Claudia Meurer, Marjorie Michael, Mark Mitchell, Myriam, Kim Albert Ng, Blaise Oarsman, Donna Palma, Kylie Parish, Lindon Parker, Vikram Patel, Jan Paull, Sally Paxton, Joyce Petrie, Susan Rokich, Max Rosenbloom, Fabian Salamon, Kristina Schelldorfer, Sven Schmidt, David and Michelle Shipworth, Kathy Simota, Dave Stevens, Barry and Steven Stockley, Anand Subramaniam, Sue and Phyl, Gregory and Mary Szczepaniak, Gillian Upton, Chandrakant Vishwanath, Void, Werner and Linda Weber, Cheryle Weinstein, Chris Wilson, John Wooller, and Lee Xiaoshin.