The Reluctant Fundamentalist - Hardcover

Hamid, Mohsin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0241143659 ISBN 13: 9780241143650

Publisher: Hamish Hamilton, 2007

Synopsis

At a café table in Lahore, a Pakistani man begins the tale that has led to his fateful meeting with an uneasy American stranger . . .

Changez is living an immigrant’s dream of America. He thrives on the energy of New York, his work at an elite firm, and his budding relationship. For a time, it seems that nothing will stand in the way of his meteoric rise to success. But in the wake of September 11, Changez finds his relationship crumbling and his exalted status overturned. Allegiances are subsequently unearthed, proving themselves more fundamental than money, power and maybe even love.

About this title

Review:

Prods the intellect, quickens the pulse and captures the imagination

(Sunday Times)

Gripping... remains taut until the final pages...an elegant and sharp indictment of the clouds of suspicion that now shroud our world (Observer)

A quietly told, cleverly constructed fable of infatuation and disenchantment with America, set on the treacherous faultlines of current east/west relations, and finely tuned to the ironies of mutual - but especially American - prejudice and misrepresentation...increasingly tense...genuinely provocative...intelligent, highly engaging (Guardian)

Elegant, provocative . . . beautifully measured prose . . . a delicate meditation on the nature of perception and prejudice (Daily Mail)

Masterful . . . A multi-layered and thoroughly gripping book, which works as a poignant love story, a powerful dissection of how US imperialist machinations have turned so many people against the world's superpower - and as a thriller that subtly ratchets up the nerve-jangling tension towards an explosive ending (Metro)

The Reluctant Fundamentalist is an important book (Evening Standard)

A fantastic piece of work, superbly considered and controlled, with a lovely stillness and wisdom at its heart (The Times)

Beautifully written (Philip Pullman)

Praise for Mohsin Hamid's Moth Smoke:

'One of the two or three best novels I have read this year' Nadine Gordimer

'A first novel of remarkable wit, poise, profundity, and strangeness' Esquire

From the Back Cover:

SHORT-LISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZEAt a cafe table in Lahore, a bearded Pakistani man converses with an uneasy American stranger. As dusk deepens to night, he begins the tale that has brought them to this fateful encounter Changez is living an immigrant s dream of America. At the top of his class at Princeton, he is snapped up by the elite valuation firm of Underwood Samson. He thrives on the energy of New York, and his budding romance with elegant, beautiful Erica promises entry into Manhattan society at the same exalted level once occupied by his own family back in Lahore.But in the wake of September 11, Changez finds his position in his adopted city suddenly overturned and his relationship with Erica eclipsed by the reawakened ghosts of her past. And Changez s own identity is in seismic shift as well, unearthing allegiances more fundamental than money, power, and maybe even love. "The Reluctant Fundamentalist "is a riveting, brilliantly unsettling exploration of the shadowy, unexpected connections between the political and the personal. "Taut and accomplished."--" San Francisco Chronicle" "Slender, smart, and subversive."--"Entertainment Weekly" A "NEW YORK TIMES" NOTABLE BOOKMOHSIN HAMID grew up in Lahore, Pakistan, and attended Princeton and Harvard. His first novel, "Moth Smoke, " was a Betty Trask Award winner, a PEN/Hemingway Award finalist, and a "New York Times "Notable Book of the Year. His writing has also appeared in "Time, "the "New York Times, " and other publications. He lives in London.Discussion guide inside and at www.HarcourtBooks.com.Visit www.ReluctantFundamentalist.com.STEP-BACK PAGE: "Elegant and chilling."--"The New York Times Book Review" [A] resounding success." "The Village Voice""" Brilliantly written. "The Seattle Times""" Hamid s style is delightfully distinct . . . [He] has done something extraordinary. "The Washington Post""""[A] lucid, unsettling novel."--"The New Yorker" "An unsettling novel for unsettling times."--"The San Diego Union-Tribune" "

About this edition

• Publisher: Hamish Hamilton
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0241143659
• ISBN 13: 9780241143650
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192