Moth Smoke

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.

"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

"Moving quickly but inviting prolonged retrospection, this first novel lays bare a human core that festers in its own unremitting heat. Hamid is a writer to watch." Library Journal

"It's Hamid's achievement that we remained charmed by Daru throughout; the fast paced, intelligent narration pulls us, despite ourselves, into his spiralling wake." New Yorker

"[A] brisk, absorbing novel...Hamid steers us from start to finish with assurance and care." Jhumpa Lahiri, The New York Times Book Review

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.

Mohsin Hamid grew up in Lahore, Pakistan, and attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School. His work has appeared in The New York Times. He currently lives in New York City.

Finalist for the Pen/Hemingway Award for Fiction

Winner of the Betty Trask Award

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.

A quietly explosive novel. Hamid's prose inexorably pulls the reader into the structure of decay that has become contemporary Pakistan--corrupt, nepotistic, drug-infused, and violent. Beautifully conceived--at times painful to read, at times comic, but, above all, honest. Hamid does for Lahore what Ben Okri does for Lagos. If I had to recommend one book on contemporary Pakistan, it would be this one.--Zia Jaffrey, author of The Invisibles

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.--Carolyn Alessio, Chicago Tribune

A quietly explosive novel. Hamid's prose inexorably pulls the reader into the structure of decay that has become contemporary Pakistan--corrupt, nepotistic, drug-infused, and violent. Beautifully conceived--at times painful to read, at times comic, but, above all, honest. Hamid does for Lahore what Ben Okri does for Lagos. If I had to recommend one book on contemporary Pakistan, it would be this one.--Zia Jaffrey, author of The Invisibles

It's Hamid's achievement that we remain charmed by Daru throughout; the fast- paced, intelligent narration pulls us, despite ourselves, into his spiralling wake.--The New Yorker

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 two or three best novels I have read this year.--Nadine Gordimer

Mohsin Hamid's Moth Smoke is both an irresistibly engaging adventure and a searching portrait of contemporary young people in a Pakistan that will surprise most Western readers with its mixture of 'decadence' and 'fundamentalism.' The voice of the novel is its triumph, however: confiding, witty, self-lacerating, arrogant and humble and unfailingly convincing.--Joyce Carol Oates

A] brisk, absorbing novel . . . 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.--Melvin Jules Bukiet, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Entertaining . . . The plot evokes the ambience of F. Scott Fitzgerald's dancers in the dark . . . An energetic, well-written, plummeting tale . . . an] elegant novel . . . rendered with skill.--Cameron Stracher, San Francisco Chronicle

Hamid adroitly links Daru's misfortunes, the parties of the Lahore jet set, and and Pakistan's nationalistic jubilation over nuclear testing--Robert Taylor, The Boston Globe

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

In this innovative and witty novel, Mohsin Hamid has give us a glimpse of Pakistan rarely seen: furious-paced, drug-hazy, and drunk with nuclear power. A fascinating study of the subtle relationship between riches and corruption, lust and love, innocence and guilt.--Chitra Divakaruni, author of Sister of My Heart

Moving quickly but inviting prolonged retrospection, this first novel lays bare a human core that festers in its own unremitting

When Daru Shezad gets himself fired from his banking job, he instantly removes himself from the ranks of Pakistan's cellphone-toting elite and sets in motion the tragicomedy that will drag him into a life of drugs and crime. His uncertain fate mirrors that of Pakistan itself, animated by nuclear weapons and sapped by corruption.

Mohsin Hamid grew up in Lahore, Pakistan, and attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School. His work has appeared in The New York Times. He currently lives in New York City.