
Mohsin Hamid is the author of four novels, Moth Smoke , The Reluctant Fundamentalist , How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia , and Exit West , and a book of essays, Discontent and Its Civilizations . His writing has been featured on bestseller lists, adapted for the cinema, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, selected as winner or finalist of twenty awards, and translated into thirty-five languages. Born in Lahore, he has spent about half his life there and much of the rest in London, New York, and California.
From the internationally bestselling author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist, the boldly imagined tale of a poor boy’s quest for wealth and love.His first two novels established Mohsin Hamid as a radically inventive storyteller with his finger on the world’s pulse. How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia meets that reputation and exceeds it. The astonishing and riveting tale of a man’s journey from impoverished rural boy to corporate tycoon, it steals its shape from the business self-help books devoured by ambitious youths all over “rising Asia.” It follows its nameless hero to the sprawling metropolis where he begins to amass an empire built on that most fluid, and increasingly scarce, of goods: water. Yet his heart remains set on something else: on the pretty girl whose star rises along with his, their paths crossing and recrossing, a lifelong affair sparked and snuffed and sparked again by the forces that careen their fates along.How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia is a striking slice of contemporary life at a time of crushing upheaval. Romantic without being sentimental, political without being didactic, and spiritual without being religious, it brings an unflinching gaze to the violence and hope it depicts. And it creates two unforgettable characters who find moments of transcendent intimacy in the midst of shattering change.
In a country teetering on the brink of civil war, two young people meet—sensual, fiercely independent Nadia and gentle, restrained Saeed. They embark on a furtive love affair and are soon cloistered in a premature intimacy by the unrest roiling their city. When it explodes, turning familiar streets into a patchwork of checkpoints and bomb blasts, they begin to hear whispers about doors—doors that can whisk people far away, if perilously and for a price. As the violence escalates, Nadia and Saeed decide that they no longer have a choice. Leaving their homeland and their old lives behind, they find a door and step through. Exit West follows these characters as they emerge into an alien and uncertain future, struggling to hold on to each other, to their past, to the very sense of who they are. Profoundly intimate and powerfully inventive, it tells an unforgettable story of love, loyalty, and courage that is both completely of our time and for all time.
At a café 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 an elite valuation firm. 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 shifting. And Changez's own identity is in seismic shift as well, unearthing allegiances more fundamental than money, power, and maybe even love.
From the New York Times -bestselling author of Exit West , a story of love, loss, and rediscovery in a time of unsettling change.One morning, a man wakes up to find himself transformed. Overnight, Anders’s skin has turned dark, and the reflection in the mirror seems a stranger to him. At first he shares his secret only with Oona, an old friend turned new lover. Soon, reports of similar events begin to surface. Across the land, people are awakening in new incarnations, uncertain how their neighbors, friends, and family will greet them. Some see the transformations as the long-dreaded overturning of the established order that must be resisted to a bitter end. In many, like Anders’s father and Oona’s mother, a sense of profound loss and unease wars with profound love. As the bond between Anders and Oona deepens, change takes on a different a chance at a kind of rebirth--an opportunity to see ourselves, face to face, anew. In Mohsin Hamid’s lyrical and urgent prose, The Last White Man powerfully uplifts our capacity for empathy and the transcendence over bigotry, fear, and anger it can achieve.
When Daru Shezad is fired from his banking job in Lahore, he begins a decline that plummets the length of this sharply drawn, subversive tale. Before long, he can't pay his bills, and he loses his toehold among Pakistan's cell-phone-toting elite. Daru descends into drugs and dissolution, and, for good measure, he falls in love with the wife of his childhood friend and rival, Ozi - the beautiful, restless Mumtaz. Desperate to reverse his fortunes, Daru embarks on a career in crime, taking as his partner Murad Badshah, the notorious rickshaw driver, populist, and pirate. When a long-planned heist goes awry, Daru finds himself on trial for a murder he may or may not have committed. The uncertainty of his fate mirrors that of Pakistan itself, hyped on the prospect of becoming a nuclear player even as corruption drains its political will. Fast-paced and unexpected, Moth Smoke portrays a contemporary Pakistan as far more vivid and disturbing than the exoticized images of South Asia familiar to most of the West. This debut novel establishes Mohsin Hamid as a writer of substance and imagination.
by Mohsin Hamid
Rating: 3.9 ⭐
In Discontent and Its Civilizations, Mohsin Hamid traces the fracture lines generated by a decade and a half of seismic change, from the "war on terror" to the struggles of individuals to maintain humanity in the rigid face of ideology, or the indifferent face of globalization. Whether he's discussing courtship rituals or pop culture, drones or the rhythms of daily life in an extended family compound, he transports us beyond the alarmist headlines of an anxious West and a volatile East and helps to bring a dazzling diverse world within emotional and intellectual reach.
Free online fiction.Short story about a young Pakistani boy—his family’s third-born—who moves with his family from a small rural village to the big city in search of opportunity…
Exerpt ftom "Exit West""Exit West, Mohsin Hamid’s fourth novel, begins as many love stories do. Two young people meet. They are opposites — a fierce sensualist who has bucked family and tradition for an independent life; a quieter, more restrained soul who lives at home and prefers to wait until marriage to have sex. Like strangers everywhere who are drawn to each other, each arouses hopes and expectations in each other — and in us — that they may or may not fulfill. But unlike strangers everywhere — or like those in some parts of the world and not others — this romance that may or may not bud takes place in a city that is on the brink of coming undone." - Rebecca Saletan About the Author: Mohsin Hamid is the internationally bestselling author of Moth Smoke, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, Discontent and its Civilizations, and his new novel, Exit West. His award-winning novels have been adapted for the cinema, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and translated into more than thirty languages. His essays and short stories have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The New Yorker, among many other publications. Hamid now resides in Lahore, his birthplace, after living for a number of years in New York and London. About the Guest Editor: Rebecca Saletan is vice president and editorial director of Riverhead Books. About the Publisher: Electric Literature is an independent publisher amplifying the power of storytelling through digital innovation. Electric Literature’s weekly fiction magazine, Recommended Reading, invites established authors, indie presses, and literary magazines to recommended great fiction. Once a month we feature our own recommendation of original, previously unpublished fiction. Recommended Reading is supported by the Amazon Literary Partnership, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. For other links from Electric Literature, follow us, or sign up for our eNewsletter.
Contemporary Pakistani painter Imran Qureshi is a master of mixing the sublime with the reality of contemporary life where suicide bombings are a common occurrence and Nike sneakers mix with ancient tribal garb. Playing with scale and the polarities of dark and light, the artist s current series of exquisite miniature paintings demands an altogether different kind of looking. Accompanying the artist's exhibition at the Curve, Barbican, London (2016), this small richly illustrated hardcover catalog, third in the series, focuses on Qureshi's use of miniature painting as a site for social commentary. Drawing upon the curve as a formal motif in the miniature tradition, the installation sequence responds to the dramatic architecture of the gallery space. Hung at varying heights, the delicate paintings begin by depicting gentle scenes of nature and then gradually transform with the addition of darker elements, subtly implying the uncertainty of what lies around the bend. Qureshi's largest installation was recently featured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art s Roof Garden (2013). Essays by Mohsin Hamid and Eleanor Nairne.
by Mohsin Hamid
Rating: 5.0 ⭐
by Mohsin Hamid
📖 A Haunting and Timely Novel from the Award-Winning Author of Exit West and The Reluctant Fundamentalist What happens when the world around you changes overnight? In The Last White Man, internationally acclaimed author Mohsin Hamid crafts a thought-provoking and deeply emotional tale of identity, transformation, and human connection. Anders wakes up one morning to discover that his skin has turned dark. As more people across the country undergo the same mysterious change, society is thrown into turmoil, revealing deep-seated fears, prejudices, and the fragile nature of race and privilege. Through Anders and his loved ones, including his father and his girlfriend Oona, Hamid explores what it means to belong in a world where external appearances dictate social order. With his signature lyrical prose and masterful storytelling, Mohsin Hamid presents a bold and urgent allegory for our times, echoing themes of race, otherness, and the search for unity in a divided world. 🌟 Perfect for fans ✔️ Literary fiction with social commentary ✔️ Dystopian and speculative fiction ✔️ Thought-provoking and philosophical novels ✔️ Authors like Colson Whitehead, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Arundhati Roy 📚 The Last White Man book, Mohsin Hamid novel, literary fiction, dystopian fiction, books about race and identity, social commentary novels, bestselling contemporary fiction, speculative fiction, thought-provoking books, award-winning authors
by Mohsin Hamid
🔥 Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid – A Gripping Tale of Love, Power, and Betrayal! From the internationally acclaimed author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Exit West, Moth Smoke is a mesmerizing novel set in the bustling streets of Lahore. This modern classic explores themes of class struggle, corruption, and the fragility of human desires. When Daru Shehzad, a disillusioned banker, loses his job, he spirals into a world of crime, drugs, and forbidden love—with his best friend’s wife. As Pakistan’s elite revel in luxury, Daru is drawn deeper into darkness, leading to a shocking trial that will change his fate forever. 📖 Why You’ll Love This ✅ A bold and provocative literary thriller ✅ Rich, atmospheric storytelling with a noir edge ✅ A masterful critique of social inequality and ambition ✅ Perfect for fans of Arundhati Roy, Salman Rushdie, and Jhumpa Lahiri ⭐ Moth Smoke book, Mohsin Hamid novels, Pakistani literature, literary fiction, contemporary classics, South Asian books, political thriller, books like The Reluctant Fundamentalist, social drama novels, crime and passion stories.
by Mohsin Hamid
A NEW YORKER “ESSENTIAL READ”A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERNAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORKER, VOGUE, AND NPR“Perhaps Hamid’s most remarkable work yet … an extraordinary vision of human possibility.” –Ayad Akhtar, author of Homeland Elegies “Searing, exhilarating … reimagines Kafka’s iconic The Metamorphosis for our racially charged era.” Hamilton Cain, Oprah DailyFrom the New York Times-bestselling author of Exit West, a story of love, loss, and rediscovery in a time of unsettling change. One morning, a man wakes up to find himself transformed. Overnight, Anders’s skin has turned dark, and the reflection in the mirror seems a stranger to him. At first he shares his secret only with Oona, an old friend turned new lover. Soon, reports of similar events begin to surface. Across the land, people are awakening in new incarnations, uncertain how their neighbors, friends, and family will greet them.Some see the transformations as the long-dreaded overturning of the established order that must be resisted to a bitter end. In many, like Anders’s father and Oona’s mother, a sense of profound loss and unease wars with profound love. As the bond between Anders and Oona deepens, change takes on a different a chance at a kind of rebirth--an opportunity to see ourselves, face to face, anew. In Mohsin Hamid’s “lyrical and urgent” prose (O Magazine), The Last White Man powerfully uplifts our capacity for empathy and the transcendence over bigotry, fear, and anger it can achieve.
by Mohsin Hamid