The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Description

At a café table in Lahore’s Food Street, a bearded Pakistani man converses with a mysterious American stranger. As dusk deepens into night, the young Pakistani begins the tale that has brought both of them to this fateful chance encounter. Encapsulated within the form of a remarkable dramatic monologue, the story of Changez, who graduates from Princeton University and joins a top New York consultancy firm, unfolds. We learn how, following the 9/11 attacks, he experiences discrimination, which sets off his journey of alienation—his inner struggle, the change of his relationships with others, and the transformation of his personality.

Author Biography

Mohsin Hamid grew up in Lahore, attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School, and worked in New York and London before beginning to write full-time. He contributes articles for the New York Times, the Guardian, and the New Yorker, and has published stories in Granta and the Paris Review. The Reluctant Fundamentalist was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, International IMPAC Dublin Award, and James Black Memorial Prize. It has been translated into over thirty languages and has been made into a feature film. His other books are Moth Smoke (2000) and How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia (2013).