The Reluctant Fundamentalist is Mohsin Hamid's thrillingly provocative international bestseller

Shortlisted for the Man Booker prize in 2007

Now a major film directed by Mira Nair and starring Kate Hudson and Kiefer Sutherland


'Excuse me, sir, but may I be of assistance? Ah, I see I have alarmed you. Do not be frightened by my beard. I am a lover of America . . . '

So speaks the mysterious stranger at a Lahore cafe as dusk settles. Invited to join him for tea, you learn his name and what led this speaker of immaculate English to seek you out. For he is more worldy than you might expect; better travelled and better educated. He knows the West better than you do. And as he tells you his story, of how he embraced the Western dream -- and a Western woman -- and how both betrayed him, so the night darkens. Then the true reason for your meeting becomes abundantly clear . . .

Challenging, mysterious and thrillingly tense, Mohsin Hamid's masterly The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a vital read teeming with questions and ideas about some of the most pressing issues of today's globalised, fractured world.


'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

'Beautifully written . . . more exciting than any thriller I've read for a long time' Philip Pullman

'A brilliant book' Kiran Desai

'Admirably spare and amazingly exciting' Rachel Cooke, New Statesman

Mohsin Hamid is the author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Moth Smoke and How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia. His fiction has been translated into over 30 languages, received numerous awards, and been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. He has contributed essays and short stories to publications such as the Guardian, The New York Times, Financial Times, Granta, and Paris Review. Born and mostly raised in Lahore, he spent part of his childhood in California, studied at Princeton University and Harvard Law School, and has since lived between Lahore, London, and New York.

Given to me by the gererous katayoun. Shall read this. Islam is a religion of peace and beauty. For the most part.

Finally got around to reading this book from Mount ToBeRead. An interesting narrative style - half a supposed conversation between two men in a Lahore market. Reminds me a little of the long yarns supposedly spun out on a tropic verandah by the characters of Joseph Conrad and W Somerset Maughan.

The tale examines America through the eyes of a clever Pakistani, Chengez, who blossoms and progresses in New York. After 9/11, ils changez.

We get some delightful whiffs of the market and its occupants, and glimpses of various aspects of American life, as the story progresses. Most interesting is the fermentation inside the mind of the narrator, who finds his views changing.

I liked this. No clear ending to tie up all the loose ends, but that isn't the point of the novel. It's to get us thinking.

Fair enough.

I was given this book in Tehran, which is its own delightful mix of flavours and sights, by the ever-wonderful katayoun, who was most generous in showing a couple of innocent tourists around.

We are returning next April, hoping to repay some of the kindness, as we explore more of this beautiful land.

Setting this one free today at the Canberra BookCrossing Meetup at Rose Cottage. Ouch, it's 34° outside, might need something cool!

I picked up the book from Skyring at Rose Cottage. I enjoyed the read, still pondering the ending.
Giving to a friend in Queensland and hoping it will continue its journey.