I love how great of detail Katherine Boo uses in her writing, at times I forget that the event in the story actually happened and that it is not a nonfiction novel. For me, this makes it a much more enjoyable way to read about another culture; usually when I think of nonfiction writing about a country or culture I think of a school's foreign language text book or a traveler's guild; just filled with facts, not a story. It brings foreign concepts and ways of life to a very descriptive, and there for easy way to understand. Such as, I feel like a tex book would just say that selling recyclables is a business for those in the slums of India, and leave it at that. But Boo explains how people go out and search for scraps, sell it to people like Abdul, who then sorts every piece by what it's made of, maybe breaks them down into smaller parts, and then sell it to the recycling plants. This is a very interesting way for the poor of India to make money, and I wonder if it will ever come to America.
From Boo's writing I could learn a few tips on how to be more creative with word choice and how to use imagery better. Even if I were to try to write about an even I witnessed I don't know if I'd be able to imagery as well as Boo does. Such as how she describes how Zehrunisa holds her "big, spoiled baby like shield" when being asked for more time with the rent from the Bihari woman. Also, I really liked how instead of using the word "hold" she uses "wore".
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