Synopses & Reviews
"Nothing is as fascinating as love, unfortunately."
Jay, the narrator of Hanif Kureishi's third novel, tells his story on the night that he is preparing to leave his lover, Susan, and their two boys. His departure will not be impulsive: "I have contemplated this rupture from all sides," he says. But it will happen. He and Susan live comfortably in London. Each loves the children. Yet Jay, "lost in the middle of [his] life," craves and depends on passion in life, and it is no longer there.
Known for "very funny works about serious topics" (San Francisco Review of Books) and his uncanny ability to capture the mores of our time, Kureishi strips away all posturing and self-justification to expose the flaws of his own protagonist and the failure of intimacy. Searingly honest, he explores the fears and desires that drive a man to leave a woman. Rarely has such challenging and complex emotion fit into so compact a novel; rarely has an experience both common and uniquely devastating been so courageously portrayed.
About the Author
Hanif Kureishi studied philosophy at the University of London and began writing plays for the Royal Court when he was twenty-one. Kureishi's script for My Beautiful Laundrette earned him an Academy Award nomination for best screenplay. He also wrote the screenplays for Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, London Kills Me (which he also directed), and My Son the Fanatic, adapted from the short story in his collection Love in a Blue Time. His novels The Buddha of Suburbia (winner of the Whitbread Prize) and The Black Album have been translated into fifteen languages. He lives in London.