Gregory David Roberts Books In Order
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Shantaram: A Novel
[ October, 2004 ] -
About Gregory David Roberts
Gregory David Roberts Bio
Gregory David Roberts was born in Melbourne, Australia. A gifted writer and student, he became addicted to heroin when his marriage collapsed and he lost the custody of his daughter. When he committed a series of robberies with an imitation pistol, he was described as the Gentleman Bandit. Sentenced to nineteen years in prison, he escaped and journeyed to New Zealand, Asia, Africa, and Europe. For ten of those fugitive years he lived in Bombay-where he established a free medical clinic for slum-dwellers, and worked as a counterfeiter, smuggler, gunrunner, and street soldier for a branch of the Bombay mafia. Recaptured in Germany, he served out his sentence there and in Australian prisons. Upon his release, he established a successful multimedia company, and since the international publication of Shantaram, he is a full-time writer, at home in several countries.
Gregory David Roberts FAQs
Who is Gregory David Roberts?
Gregory David Roberts, born Gregory John Peter Smith, is an Australian author best known for his novel Shantaram. He was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1952. A former heroin addict and convicted bank robber, he escaped from Pentridge Prison in 1980 and fled to India, where he lived for ten years.
After he was recaptured, extradited, and had served out the remainder of his sentence, he completed Shantaram and published it in 2003 to international acclaim. He is also a songwriter, composer, and artist.
After he was recaptured, extradited, and had served out the remainder of his sentence, he completed Shantaram and published it in 2003 to international acclaim. He is also a songwriter, composer, and artist.
What books has Gregory David Roberts written?
Gregory David Roberts has published three books. Scribe Publications first published Shantaram in Australia in 2003, and it went on to become a major international bestseller. The Mountain Shadow, the sequel, was published by Grove Press on 13 October 2015. The Spiritual Path, a non-fiction work, was published by Little, Brown Book Group in 2021. A third instalment in the Shantaram series has been proposed, but as of 2026 it has not been published.
What is Shantaram about?
Shantaram is a 2003 novel in which a convicted Australian bank robber and heroin addict escapes from Pentridge Prison and flees to India. Lin is a hunted man without a home, family, or identity, and he searches for love and meaning while running a clinic in one of the city’s poorest slums and serving his apprenticeship in the dark arts of the Bombay mafia, a search that leads him to war, prison torture, murder, and a series of enigmatic and bloody betrayals. The novel has been widely praised for its vivid portrayal of life in Bombay in the 1980s, and it has sold over 7 million copies.
How much of Shantaram is based on true events?
The novel is reportedly influenced by real events in the author’s life, though others involved in the story contest some of his claims. The verifiable biographical core is substantial: a court sentenced Roberts to 19 years in 1978 after convicting him of a series of armed robberies, and in July 1980 he escaped from Pentridge Prison in broad daylight to become one of Australia’s most wanted men. He subsequently set up a free medical clinic for slum-dwellers in Bombay and worked as a counterfeiter, smuggler, gunrunner, and street soldier for a branch of the Bombay mafia.
The exact details remain disputed, real people like Prabhakar Kisan Khare appear in the book, and his family disputes many of Roberts’ claims, and Roberts has maintained throughout that the emotional and thematic truth matters more than strict factual accuracy.
The exact details remain disputed, real people like Prabhakar Kisan Khare appear in the book, and his family disputes many of Roberts’ claims, and Roberts has maintained throughout that the emotional and thematic truth matters more than strict factual accuracy.
What is The Mountain Shadow about, and how does it connect to Shantaram?
The Mountain Shadow is a 2015 novel and the sequel to Shantaram, the second book in the proposed trilogy. In it, Lin must find his way through a Bombay run by a different generation of mafia dons who play by a different set of rules.
The book picks up the philosophical and emotional threads of the first novel, the questions of loyalty, love, identity, and what a person owes the city that saved them, and extends them into a changed criminal landscape. Reviewers at the New York Times Book Review noted that Roberts “has undeniably created a genuine universe, a teeming underbelly of larger-than-life characters.”
The book picks up the philosophical and emotional threads of the first novel, the questions of loyalty, love, identity, and what a person owes the city that saved them, and extends them into a changed criminal landscape. Reviewers at the New York Times Book Review noted that Roberts “has undeniably created a genuine universe, a teeming underbelly of larger-than-life characters.”
Was Shantaram adapted for television?
Eric Warren Singer and Steve Lightfoot created an American-Australian drama thriller series from Shantaram, drawing on Roberts’ own life story of a bank robber from Australia who flees to India.
The Apple TV+ series starred Charlie Hunnam and was based on the internationally bestselling novel. The global debut consisted of the first three episodes on 14 October 2022, with one new episode following weekly every Friday through 16 December 2022. Apple TV+ cancelled the series after one season in December 2022.
The Apple TV+ series starred Charlie Hunnam and was based on the internationally bestselling novel. The global debut consisted of the first three episodes on 14 October 2022, with one new episode following weekly every Friday through 16 December 2022. Apple TV+ cancelled the series after one season in December 2022.
What genre does Gregory David Roberts write?
Roberts’ two novels, Shantaram and The Mountain Shadow, sit at the intersection of literary fiction, crime, and adventure. His work spans action and adventure, crime, mystery, thriller, and suspense.
Both books are long, philosophically ambitious, and rooted in the specific textures of Bombay, as interested in questions of morality and spiritual identity as they are in plot. The Spiritual Path, his third book, is non-fiction: a personal journey into science, belief, faith, and devotion.
Both books are long, philosophically ambitious, and rooted in the specific textures of Bombay, as interested in questions of morality and spiritual identity as they are in plot. The Spiritual Path, his third book, is non-fiction: a personal journey into science, belief, faith, and devotion.