Home Boy: A Novel
Starred Review. Naqvi's debut novel introduces Chuck, a 20-something Pakistani living in New York and one of the most engaging protagonists to come along in a while. After moving from Karachi to attend NYU, Chuck readily adapts to the customs of his new home—especially those involving alcohol, cocaine and skirt chasing—but he's not the average drunk college kid: he and his friends, AC and Jimbo, are like a Pakistani-American version of the Three Musketeers—in their own eyes, boulevardiers, raconteurs, renaissance men. After graduating, Chuck lands a job as an investment banker (his mother's idea), and after a good run, he's fired during a brief economic downturn. Shortly thereafter, his former office building, 7 World Trade Center, is the third building to go down on 9/11. Suddenly, the act of the debonair dandy is a little harder to pull off: with no job, little money, and the rapidly increasing hostility of Americans towards all things Muslim, Chuck struggles to make sense of his newfound status as an outsider. Naqvi's fast-paced plot, foul-mouthed erudition and pitch-perfect dialogue make for a stellar debut.(Sept.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.