Bookclub-in-a-Box Discusses The Reluctant Fundamentalist, a novel by Mohsin Hamid

The Reluctant Fundamentalist is more than the usual immigrant book of adaptation, struggle, and identity. Mohsin Hamid has written a gripping tale of a young man who comes to America from Pakistan just prior to 9/11. The protagonist, Changez, is a Princeton educated businessman who works for a high-profile company that assesses the economic value of other companies. Changez is very successful in his chosen career, but then September 11 happens and everything changes. The setting is Lahore, Pakistan and the story is told with a single voice, that of Changez, as he speaks to a nameless and faceless American tourist. Although the narration takes place in the span of a single evening, in fact, during a single meal, Hamid manages to swing the reader on a pendulum of conflicting emotions and thoughts. The Bookclub-in-a-Box guide explores a number of important questions: who is this nameless American and why is he in Pakistan; how can one person have equal love for two countries that are at odds with each other in culture and outlook; how does such a person come to terms with his two worlds; and what is the significance of the word reluctant in the novel s title, The Reluctant Fundamentalist.