The Reluctant Fundamentalist is the award-winning international bestseller by Mohsin Hamid NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING KATE HUDSON & KIEFER SUTHERLANDSHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2007' Excuse me sir but may I be of assistance? Ah I see I have alarmed you Do not be frightened by my beard I am a lover of America ' So speaks the mysterious stranger at a Lahore cafe as dusk settles Invited to join him for tea you learn his name & what led this speaker of immaculate English to seek you out For her is more worldy than you might expect; better travelled & better educated He knows the West better than you do & as he tells you his story of how he embraced the Western dream -- & a Western woman -- & how both betrayed him so the night darkens Then the true reason for your meeting becomes abundantly clear Praise for The Reluctant Fundamentalist ' Beautifully written more exciting than any thriller I've read for a long time' Philip Pullman' Admirably spare & amazingly exciting' Rachel Cooke New Statesman' Sharp relevant impressively intelligent entertains at the same time as it makes you think' Daily Telegraph'A cleverly constructed fable of infatuation & disenchantment Intelligent & highly engaging genuinely provocative' Guardian'A brilliant book' Kiran Desai' Prods the intellect quickens the pace & captures the imagination' Sunday Times Mohsin Hamid is the author of three novels The Reluctant Fundamentalist Moth Smoke & How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia His fiction has been translated into over 30 languages received numerous awards & been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize He has contributed essays & short stories to publications such as the Guardian The New York Times Financial Times Granta & Paris Review Born & mostly raised in Lahore he spent part of his childhood in California studied at Princeton University & Harvard Law School & has since lived between Lahore London & New York