Customer Reviews

Hanif Kureishi's The Buddha of Suburbia (Continuum Contemporaries)

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As a huge fan of Hanif K, I was looking forward to this book, and it's very well done. The opening chapter basically consists of the most in-depth interview with Hanif that I've ever read, and it's absolutely fascinating. Consider this: 'To try to fit in with (the world) would prevent you from writing anything. For example, does the world want a film about a gay Nazi running a launderette? The work creates the market rather than the other way around, as with, for example, postcolonial writing where the works create the interest and the label comes later. When you imagine a mixed-race Asian living in the South London suburbs, you can't ask if anyone *wants* to read about him because no one *has* previously written about him, so you can't know.'

Nahem Yousaf's discussion of TBOS is equally interesting, and he writes brilliantly about the BBC television adaptation, too. If you haven't seen that yet, please try to get hold of it on video! All in all, this is an excellent little book. Recommended.