Dear Reader

Welcome to BookCrossing and thanks for being a part of World Book Night 2011, the largest book giveaway in history. 1,000,000 specially printed copies of 25 different books changed hands on March 5th 2011 and began their journey from reader to reader. This book is one of them. World Book Night has joined with BookCrossing to help track these books as they travel. You can be a part of that journey by making a comment in the book's journal here on BookCrossing. Your journal entry can say how you got the book, what you thought of it, your plans for it or whatever else you might like to add.

On BookCrossing you may choose to remain anonymous or join (it's free). If you join, you’ll be alerted by e-mail each time someone makes another journal entry for this specific copy of this book (other copies of the book are travelling with their own ID number. Every copy of every book has a unique ID). It’s all confidential (you’re known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address) and spam-free.

Thanks in advance for being part of World Book Night and BookCrossing. And happy reading and sharing.

This book is being released via BookCrossing on 5 March 2011 as part of the inaugural World Book Night. With the full support of the Publishers Association, the Booksellers Association, the Independent Publishers Guild, the Reading Agency with libraries, World Book Day and the BBC, one million books will be given away by an army of passionate readers to members of the public across the UK and Ireland.

Read and release!

This is a very well written, entertaining and thought provoking book which I read back in 2008. It made such an impression it was my selection in the World Book Night giveaway. This is one of 48 copies I have been entrusted to give away. I hope future readers will record their view of the book and what they do with it as it continues on its travels.

I am posting this copy to the USA to a BookCrosser using the name bookczuk who has shown an interest in World Book Night and has helped many other people with bookcrossing and books.

I am so entirely chuffed to have received a World Book Night book. Not only has the whole process fascinated me, but I've had to answer a lot of questions about it for people coming to the site for the first time after finding or being given a book. (Yay for all volunteer support staffs!) I think the project itself was ambitious, and despite the kinks and quirks in the execution this year, am hopeful that next year will go more smoothly and that it may go world wide at some point.

Thank you so much, ardachy, for thinking of me. I shall read and release.

(PS I took the book out into our garden by the palmetto trees so you can see it's really somewhere else! Palmettos are our "state tree" and are different from palms. They were fundamental in why the rebels were not defeated by the artillery from the British ships in the Charleston harbor at the beginning of the American Revolution. The fort that the British were firing on eventually was named Fort Moultrie in honor of the American commander who saved Charleston from capture.)

Just started this last night. Had no expectations of what it would be about, but am liking it so far. (Didn't get very far into it before sleep-time came for javaczuk, so being kind, I turned my light out, too). My plan is to finish this pronto and put it in the stack of books that will hopefully head to the BC Convention, with some visitors stopping by Charleston shortly. I may see if I can get it to Kiptrix first, before it leaves Charleston, if she's interested. I'd like to see it travel from hand to hand a bit before being wild released.

When I was in high school, the drama department put on a one-act play which had two characters in it. One was silent the entire play, the other carried on a one-sided conversation that made up the entire verbal context of the play. The concept fascinated me, and my friends and I spend a great deal of time debating which character had the harder role to play. I've periodically thought of that play and ruminated on the power of the device. I know I must have read other books that employed it, but The Reluctant Fundamentalist is probably the best example that I have come across of this device in literature.

From the opening, "Excuse me, Sir, but may I be of assistance? Ah, I see I have alarmed you " , I was drawn in. The outline of the story is pretty simple: A young man, Changez, from Lahore, whose family has fallen on somewhat hard times from their earlier wealth a few generations back, was able to go to Princeton. Upon graduation, he was taken on at a very prestigious firm in New York City. He also began a complicated friendship (and one sided love) with Erica, a wealthy girl emotionally scarred by the death of her boyfriend before the story opened. As Changez struggled with his own conflicted psyche regarding his life in America and his relationship with Erica, the Twin Towers fell, his life unraveled and he returned to Pakistan. As the story begins, Changez has approached a man, who appears to be American, visiting Lahore. The entire book is Changez's side of the conversation between the two. The book seemed very allegorical as well as astute in observation. The perceptions of East to West and West to East were realistically drawn. Mohsin Hamid has used this story as a way to help open eyes to how we see each other, and see the world, as well as some of the problems that now plague our society, the misunderstandings, mistrust, antagonism and fears that serve to separate us and propagate more uncertainties. Indeed, the opening "Excuse me sir..." summarizes so much of the story.

Thanks to WBN and ardachy for sending this my way. I'm actually thinking now it might be fun to BookRing this copy in the US and share the magic of WBN with other BookCrossers.

We had a meetup today with some visiting Aussies and a Kiwi en route to the Convention in DC. I thought this book should travel with them.

To the finder of this book:

Welcome to BookCrossing, a unique community of book lovers, sharing their libraries with the world. This book is now yours to read, enjoy, keep or pass on to another reader. The BookCrossing ID, which you entered in the "Enter a BCID" box on the website, is unique to this copy of this book. If you make a journal entry (either anonymously, or as a BookCrossing member) all previous readers of this actual book will be notified by email, and can follow the book as it travels. BookCrossing is free to join, completely confidential (you are known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address) and a heck of a lot of fun. Be on the lookout for other books left in the "Wild"!

PS And if you find yourself liking BookCrossing, there may be local BookCrossers who meet regularly in your area. Come join us!

I was the lucky recipient of this book at a wonderful lunch meetup in Charleston. It was fantastic to meet you bookczuk and spend a few hours with you. This book will travel to Australia with a few others I have collected at BCin DC.

This book has been my favourite (perhaps not quite the right word?) read for the year. A very short book, I read it quickly partly due to it's length but mainly due to the tense way in which the story was told.
The one-sided conversation by Changez from Lahore, Pakistan to the American visitor became more alarming as the evening wore on. The book was written in concise language and told the story of how a Pakistani who became a Princeton graduate was selected into the highter echelons of the financial world in the financial capital of the world - New York; and how everything changed for him after September 11.

This book started it's journey in 'the mother country', travelled on to one of it's former colonies, came with me to another (penal) colony and I will now pass it on to another of the colonies when I attend the BC Unconvention in Wellington in two weeks.
Thanks for sharing such an important book.

Caught by hand from MeganH at the 2011 NZBC UnConvention. It looks interesting and I'm sure I'll enjoy it.

Took me quite a while to realise exactly what a fundamentalist was; it wasn't a word that appeared in my trusty Oxford dictionary. Once I caught on I could work out why this book has this title.
It was not a style of writing I'd come across before and that also took time to adjust but once I did it was intriguing. I enjoyed Changez's character, watching the impact on him of 9/11 and the difficulty he faced when died-in-the wool Americans obviously distrusted him. Quite a moving tale with a nice open-ended finish. I'd like to know how his life continues.

Sending to Box Hill, Aus., where there is a BXer with this book on their wishlist.

Received safely. Wow, this book has really traveled.

I had no expectations when I started reading this and it just immediately drew me in. The conversational style was unique and the issues surrounding 9/11 were thought provoking. It was overall an enjoyable and quick read. Thanks so much for enabling me to experience it.

Merry Christmas

Received from my Secret Santa alice2623663. Thank you.

If the book is half as interesting as reading all the previous journal entries and seeing the hands it had been through and where it had already been it will be, to quote C. Montgomery Burns, "Excellent". (Don't forget to say "Excellent" in the appropriate voice and with the hand/finger movements.