The Reluctant Fundamentalist

A Pakistani immigrant who since 9/11 has become alienated from the USA tells his story to an American stranger in Mohsin Hamid's mesmerising novel.

An idealistic young Muslim man leaves Pakistan to pursue his education in the US. On graduation from Princeton, Changez is recruited to a top job on Wall Street, falls in love with an American woman, Erica, and seems set to climb high in elite Manhattan society. But post-9/11 he finds himself regarded with suspicion by his fellow New Yorkers and his relationship with Erica becomes overshadowed by her personal demons, as well as his own growing resentment at the country he has made home.

"The Reluctant Fundamenalist is in no way a critique of Pakistan's intellectual denial. If anything it could be described as an example of it. But if that were the case, it would do nothing to undermine its strength as a novel. It's not Hamid's job to right the problems of his country of birth. His job as a novelist is to capture a particular reality and give authentic voice to the characters therein. And in this he has succeeded with a sureness that is quite mesmerising."  -  Andrew, Anthony, The Guardian

Mohsin Hamid is a leading journalist and the author of the Moth Smoke, How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, Discontent and its Civilisations and Exit West. Born and mostly raised in Lahore, he has since lived between Lahore, London and New York. He writes regularly for the New York Times, the Guardian and the New York Review of Books.