The Reluctant Fundamentalist

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

• Genre: Fiction; realistic framed narrative
• Originally Published: 2007
• Reading Level/Interest: College/Adult
• Structure/Length: 9 chapters; approx. 191 pages; approx. 4 hours, 15 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Changez is a young Pakistani immigrant caught up in an elite New York lifestyle and his own success in his job for a profitable valuation company; after 9/11, however, he finds his relationships as well as his place and role in his adopted city uncertain. In a framed narrative, Changez tells his story to an American man in a café in Lahore.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: 9/11; immigration; cultural identity; privilege; discrimination

Mohsin Hamid, Author

• Bio: Born in 1971 in Lahore, capital of Punjab, a province in Pakistan; a novelist and essayist; has works translated in over 40 languages; author of bestsellers and film adaptations; has lived in London, New York, and California
• Other Works: Moth Smoke (2012); How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia (2013); Exit West (2017)
• Awards: Man Booker Prize shortlist (2007); Asian American Literary Award (winner, 2008); Guardian's Books of the Decade (2009); BBC's 100 Novels That Shaped Our World (2019)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• The American Dream
• 9/11 and the War on Terror
• Nostalgia
• Identity

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will: