Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Feb 2001
256 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Through a brilliant array of voices and perspectives, debut author Mohsin Hamid tells the story of one love-struck Daru Shezad, who when fired from his banking job, instantly removes himself from the ranks of Pakistan's cell-phone-toting elite and plunges into a life of drugs and crime.But when a heist goes awry, Daru finds himself on trial for a murder he may not have committed. His uncertain fate mirrors that of Pakistan itself, animated by nuclear weapons and sapped by corruption.
"Hamid's tale, played out against the background of Pakistan's recent testing
of a nuclear device, creates a powerful image of an insecure society toying with
its own dissolution." - Publishers Weekly.
"A pitch-perfect tale of the destruction of a young man ... Hamid is a writer to
watch." - Library Journal.
"Stunning, [Hamid] has created a hip page-turner. He flies his pair of moths,
[the characters] Daru and Mumtaz, like an expert kite fighter, singing wings and
fraying strings." - The Los Angeles Times.
"[A] brisk, absorbing novel . . . Hamid steers us from start to finish with
assurance and care." - Jhumpa Lahiri, The New York Times Book Review.
"A first novel of remarkable wit, poise, profundity, and strangeness . . . Hamid
is a writer of gorgeous, lush prose and superb dialogue . . . Moth Smoke
is a treat." - Esquire.
This information about Moth Smoke was first featured
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Ed Kashi
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, Pakistan, he has spent about half his life there and much of the rest in London, New York, and California.
Author Interview
Link to Mohsin Hamid's Website
Name Pronunciation
Mohsin Hamid: Moh-sin Hum-eed
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