Moth Smoke

Description

The debut novel from the internationally bestselling author of Exit West and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, both shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize

Moth Smoke, Mohsin Hamid’s deftly conceived first novel, immediately marked him as an uncommonly gifted and ambitious young literary talent to watch when it was published in 2000. It tells the story of Daru Shezad, who, fired from his banking job in Lahore, begins a decline that plummets the length of Hamid’s sharply drawn, subversive tale.

Fast-paced and unexpected, Moth Smoke was ahead of its time in portraying a contemporary Pakistan far more vivid and complex than the exoticized images of South Asia then familiar to the West. It established Mohsin Hamid as an internationally important writer of substance and imagination and the premier Pakistani author of our time, a promise he has amply fulfilled with each successive book. This debut novel, meanwhile, remains as compelling and deeply relevant to the moment as when it appeared more than a decade ago.

“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

“Stunning… [Hamid] has created a hip page-turner about [his] mysterious country.” –Los Angeles Times

“A brisk, absorbing novel… inventive… trenchant… Hamid steers us from start to finish with assurance and care.” –Jhumpa Lahiri, The New York Times Book Review 

“Pakistan, seventh most populous country in the world, is one of the countries whose literature has been overlooked. Now its chair has been taken, and looks to be occupied for years to come, by the extraordinary new novelist Mohsin Hamid.” –The Philadelphia Inquirer

“A subtly audacious work and prodigious descendant of hard-boiled lit and film noir… Moth Smoke is a steamy and often darkly amusing book about sex, drugs, and class warfare in postcolonial Asia.” –The Village Voice

“Fast-paced, intelligent.” –The New Yorker

“Friends, a love triangle, murder, criminal justice, hopelessness, humidity. It’s set in Lahore, there’s a beautiful woman. Her name is Mumtez and she smokes pot and cigarettes and drinks straight Scotch. Read this book. Fall in love.” –Publishers Weekly

“The most impressive of his gifts is the clearsightedness of his look at the power structure of a society that has shifted from the old feudalism, based on birth, to the new Pakistani feudalism based on wealth.” –The New York Review of Books

 
“Sharply observed… elegant and evocative… a substantial achievement.” –Financial Times

“Brilliant… As relevant now as it was upon first publication twelve years ago.” –The Millions

Mohsin Hamid is the author of the international bestsellers Exit West and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, both finalists for the Man Booker Prize. His first novel, Moth Smoke, won the Betty Trask Award and was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Foundation Award. His essays, a number of them collected as Discontent and Its Civilizations, have appeared in The New York Times, the Washington Post, The New York Review of Books, and elsewhere. He lives in Lahore, Pakistan.

INTRODUCTION

Moth Smoke, Mohsin Hamid’s deftly conceived first novel, tells the story of Daru Shezad, who, fired from his banking job in Lahore, begins a decline that plummets the length of Hamid’s sharply drawn, subversive tale. Fast–paced and unexpected,Moth Smoke portrays a contemporary Pakistan far more vivid and complex than the exoticized images of South Asia familiar to the West. It established Mohsin Hamid as an internationally important writer of substance and imagination, a promise he has amply fulfilled with each successive book; this debut novel, meanwhile, remains compelling and deeply relevant today.

ABOUT MOHSIN HAMID

MOHSIN HAMID Mohsin Hamid grew up in Lahore, Pakistan, and attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School. He contributes to Time, The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The International Herald Tribune, and other publications. After a number of years living in New York and London, he has again made Lahore his home.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

How does knowing Daru’s crime in advance affect your reading of his story? Does it give the novel extra momentum? Did you find yourself prejudging the narrator?

Were you surprised by any of the author’s depictions of modern Lahore—from the posh spots to the gritty slums?

Do you think Daru does the “right” thing by keeping the details of the accident and the boy’s death a secret?

How does Daru and Mumtaz’s romantic relationship alter their friendship and their destinies? Should they have refrained for Ozi’s sake? What does each get out of the affair?

Who are the book’s “moths”—in love with the flame, blinded by their emotions, dancing to their deaths?

Discuss Manucci’s role in Daru’s household. Why do you think he stays on even as Daru is unable to pay him?

How would you describe the interplay among classes in Lahore? How did you feel about Daru’s violence against his servant?

What do you think Mumtaz is seeking in her work as an undercover journalist? Does “Zulifar Manto” help her gain the separate identity she so desperately desires?

As more of Mumtaz’s history and emotional state is revealed, do you find her character more or less relatable? Is she a “bad mother”? Why or why not?

The author paints an unflinching portrait of Daru’s descent into addiction and desperation. How did you react to his transformation from a down–and–out but reasonable man to a deeply troubled “monster”? Would you consider him an anti–hero or worthy of reader sympathy?

Did getting a more complete point of view from both Mumtaz’s and Ozi’s perspectives change your perception of Daru or the events?

Were you satisfied with the ending of this book—did everyone get the appropriate karmic payout? Why or why not?

US

Additional information

Dimensions	0.7300 × 5.2000 × 7.9500 in
Imprint	Riverhead Books
ISBN-13	09781594486609
ISBN-10	1594486603
Author	Mohsin Hamid
Audience	General / adult
BISAC	FIC051000, FIC041000
Subjects	FIC051000, Literature, journalism, prison, road trip, journey, Pakistan, drugs, pakistani, lahore, true stories, literary fiction, novels, fiction books, books fiction, realistic fiction books, booker prize shortlist, award winning books for adults, FIC041000, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, south asia, the moth, moshin hamid, military, adventure, war, crime, culture, marriage, relationships, work, family, romance, love, thriller, true story, drama, survival, fiction, suspense, mystery, Friendship, coming of age, realistic fiction, middle east, 21st century