Booker Prize winner the Seven Moons of Maali Almeida review

The Booker Prize went to "The Seven Moons of Maali almeida" by Shehan Karunatilaka. The author started in advertising and self-published his debut novel, "Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew" before it was picked up by Penguin and won the Commonwealth Prize. Karuntilka's second novel "Devil Dance" was shortlisted for a Sri Lankan prize in 2015 and published by India five years later. He spent two years developing the novel and it's now being published in the United States.

Maali Almeida is a ghost of a photojournalist in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He is afraid he will be executed for his pictures that could bring down the government. He prided himself on his discretion. In the end, he finds justice only if he can publish a cache of his most incendiary pictures. The photos are of horrific crimes that the Sri Lankan military would kill to keep secret. Maali is gay. His partner is unreliable. They live in a homophobic society.

Karunatilaka's book is about Maali Almeida, who is killed in a car crash. The book deals with Sri Lanka's civil war. It is a tribute to Kurt Vonnegut. The author has written about Von Negneguts' ability to view tragedy through the lens of the absurd. He also wrote about the Booker Prize Foundation. This review gives the book a positive review. iReport.com gives it a rating of "B".

Maali Almeida is a ghost who can see and hear his friends' growing peril. He can't help them find the secret photos that will expose officials who used him and terrorized his countrymen.

"The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida" by Karunatilaka is a novel about the power of journalism to effect political change. The book's deeper themes reach beyond politics to the problem of evil. Ron Charles reviews books and writes the Book Club newsletter for The Washington Post.