3 Review(s)

Set against the backdrop of Pakistan’s nuclear tests in 1998, Moth Smoke is the story of the downfall of Darashikoh Shezad or Daru, a once successful banker in Lahore, Pakistan. It takes the reader on his journey that sees him losing his job, getting into a rocky affair with his childhood friend’s wife and a tryst with the dark world of drugs and crime. Summary Of The Book Daru lives in Lahore and is a banker with a bad temper. His aggression did him good when he was a college boxer, but his idiosyncratic behaviour soon leads him jobless. The sudden loss of income makes him note the yawning divide between him and his wealthier classmates. He soon realizes the bitter truth that money has a lot more to offer than his own personal traits. His insecurity gets the better of him with the return of his childhood friend, Ozi, from the US. Ozi has everything that Daru does not have, a glitzy car, a high-paying job and Mumtaz, his beautiful wife. As the trio hop from one party to another, hobnobbing with the swish set of Lahore, Daru begins a rocky affair with Mumtaz on one hand, while selling drugs to her husband Ozi on the other. Soon, this dual life of his sets him on a path of self destruction with both his social and financial position falling apart. Published in the year 2000, Moth Smoke won a Betty Trask Award and was one of the leading contenders for the PEN/Hemingway Award that year. It was also judged as the New York Times Notable Book of The Year. In 2002, it was adapted as a Pakistani feature film, Daira. A Hindi version of the same directed by Rahul Bose is in the pipeline. About Mohsin Hamid Mohsin Hamid is a bestselling Pakistani author. His other acclaimed novels are The Reluctant Fundamentalist and How To Get Filthy Rich In Rising Asia. Hamid was born in Lahore in 1971. He studied under the tutelage of writer Toni Morrison and Joyce Carol Oates at Princeton University and graduated from there in 1993. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1997, he worked for McKinsey & Company in New York City as a management consultant, which was the same time he completed his debut novel Moth Smoke. His award-winning fiction book, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, has been translated into more than 30 languages and has been featured on bestseller lists, has been made into feature films and has been nominated for the Man Booker Prize. He currently lives with his wife and daughter, jet setting between Pakistan and abroad. Hamid has also written about politics and Pakistan's extremism and internal division.