From Powells.com
Discover the books that made our 2022 list.
Hot new releases and under-the-radar gems for adults and kids.
Staff Pick
I am often resistant to allegory in practice (or even in concept, to be honest), but Mohsin Hamid’s The Last White Man has me questioning my priors, because he uses the literary device to create that rarest of things: a novel that is both simple and nuanced. This tale of the consequences that flow from an inexplicable racial upheaval is both gripping and gentle, full of a generous, yet restrained wisdom. Recommended By Keith M., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE SUMMER BY TIME, ELLE, USA TODAY, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY AND MORE
"Perhaps Hamid's most remarkable work yet…an extraordinary vision of human possibility." Ayad Akhtar, author of Homeland Elegies
"Searing, exhilarating…reimagines Kafka's iconic The Metamorphosis for our racially charged era." Hamilton Cain, Oprah Daily
From the New York Times-bestselling author of Exit West, a story of love, loss, and rediscovery in a time of unsettling change.
One morning, a man wakes up to find himself transformed. Overnight, Anders's skin has turned dark, and the reflection in the mirror seems a stranger to him. At first he shares his secret only with Oona, an old friend turned new lover. Soon, reports of similar events begin to surface. Across the land, people are awakening in new incarnations, uncertain how their neighbors, friends, and family will greet them. Some see the transformations as the long-dreaded overturning of the established order that must be resisted to a bitter end. In many, like Anders's father and Oona's mother, a sense of profound loss and unease wars with profound love. As the bond between Anders and Oona deepens, change takes on a different shading: a chance at a kind of rebirth--an opportunity to see ourselves, face to face, anew.
In Mohsin Hamid's "lyrical and urgent" prose ( O Magazine), The Last White Man powerfully uplifts our capacity for empathy and the transcendence over bigotry, fear, and anger it can achieve.
Review
"A brilliantly realized allegory of racial transformation….A provocative tale that raises questions of racial and social justice at every turn." Kirkus (Starred Review)
Review
"With one remarkable book after another, Mohsin Hamid has proven himself to be one of the 21st century's most essential writers. This is, perhaps, his most remarkable work yet. The Last White Man is myth and poetry operating as a deeper form of social commentary, and an extraordinary vision of human possibility." Ayad Akhtar, author of Homeland Elegies
Review
"Hamid….reminds us yet again that fiction sometimes provides the most direct path to truth." BookPage (Starred Review)
About the Author
Mohsin Hamid is the author of five novels, including the Booker Prize finalists and New York Times bestsellers Exit West and The Reluctant Fundamentalist. His essays, some collected as Discontent and Its Civilizations, have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and elsewhere. He divides his time between Lahore, New York, and London.