Moth Smoke

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

Discover this surprising gem - the sharp, funny and irresistible debut novel from the bestselling author of Exit West and The Reluctant Fundamentalist

'You know you're in trouble when you can't meet a woman's eye, particularly if the woman happens to be your best friend's wife...'

In Lahore, Daru Shezad is a junior banker with a hashish habit. When his old friend Ozi moves back to Pakistan, Daru wants to be happy for him. Ozi has everything: a beautiful wife and child, an expensive foreign education - and a corrupt father who bankrolls his lavish lifestyle.

As jealousy sets in, Daru's life slowly unravels. He loses his job. Starts lacing his joints with heroin. Becomes involved with a criminally-minded rickshaw driver. And falls in love with Ozi's lonely wife.

But how low can Daru sink? Is he guilty of the crime he finds himself on trial for?

'Subtly audacious . . . A steamy and often darkly amusing book about sex, drugs, and class warfare in postcolonial Asia' Village Voice

© Mohsin Hamid 2000 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Critics Review

  • Sharply observed, powerful, evocative

    Financial Times

  • A first novel of remarkable wit, poise and profundity. A treat

    Esquire

  • A vivid portrait of contemporary young Pakistani life, where frustration and insecurity feed not only the snobbery, decadence and aspirations of the rich, but also the resentment of the poor

    The Times

  • A rare glimpse into modern-day Pakistan . . . The voices that emerge are sarcastic and sad, a lively lament . . . reminiscent of V. S. Naipaul and Salman Rushdie

    Chicago Tribune

  • Not often does one find a first novel that has the power of imagination and skill to orchestrate personal and public themes of these consequences and achieve a chord that reverberates in one’s mind. Moth Smoke is one of the best novels I have read this year

    -

  • Stunning . . . [Hamid] has created a hip page-turner

    Los Angeles Times

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