Naomi Klein’s new book on her celebrity namesake, Naomi Wolf, examines the transformation of the latter from an influential...
Published 29 Oct, 2023 07:03am
The memoirs of Pakistan’s fourth governor general and first president, who died in exile, seek to present his version of history
Published 22 Oct, 2023 08:25am
A quick-read of a ‘psychological thriller’ novel is weighed down by unfathomable characterisation and poor narrative choices
Published 22 Oct, 2023 08:20am
A postmodernist novel explores themes of identity and meaning and offers a unique and rewarding reading experience
Published 22 Oct, 2023 08:12am
It was some time ago, when work related to community development would take me regularly to Multan, Bahawalpur, Layyah,...
Published 22 Oct, 2023 08:05am
From high-tech fighting machines to supercomputers and killer robots, science fiction has a lot to say about war....
Published 15 Oct, 2023 06:41am
A provocative family saga tries to connect the 1857 Indian ‘mutiny’ with rebellious ideas against Western imperialism
Published 15 Oct, 2023 06:41am
A diary of the experiences of a Pakistani doctor who worked in Nigeria for four years
in the 1960s is both amusing and dramat
Published 15 Oct, 2023 06:41am
The works of Jon Fosse, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature last week, include novels, poetry, essays, translations
Published 15 Oct, 2023 06:41am
The little book, which has even less than a hundred pages, talks of the importance of moral values, which,
Published 15 Oct, 2023 06:41am
Like most people, I love watching films, but can make little or no claim of critically understanding the medium —...
Published 08 Oct, 2023 07:28am
A gripping account of how one former American soldier helped his Afghan interpreter and thousands of others to flee the Taliban
Published 08 Oct, 2023 07:28am
An Urdu translation of the English memoirs of famous yesteryear actor Begum Khurshid Mirza paints a remarkable life lived
Published 08 Oct, 2023 07:28am
A biography structured as an expose of an American media mogul is a cautionary tale that reflects the intensely ugly ways in
Published 08 Oct, 2023 07:28am
A compilation about the historiography of Sindh under the Kalhora and other dynasties is an excellent exposition of primary...
Published 01 Oct, 2023 06:53am
A page-turner of a dystopian novel about a future one-party United Kingdom that harshly enforces a one-child policy is as much...
Published 01 Oct, 2023 06:53am
Dr Ishrat Husain’s hefty tome of collected writings primarily looks at the reasons of Pakistan’s recurring economic quagmire and..
Published 01 Oct, 2023 06:53am
The mushaira at Richmond, Virginia, in late August this year reminded me of gatherings from my childhood, when poets...
Published 24 Sep, 2023 05:25am
A novel by a veteran journalist and editor reflects on Pakistan’s media, politics and history
Published 24 Sep, 2023 05:25am
A Booker Prize long-listed debut novel is a poignant tale about an athlete’s coming-of-age, growing up and grief
Published 24 Sep, 2023 05:25am
A book by a former journalist takes the long view about the precarious position of journalists in Pakistan’s volatile border areas
Published 24 Sep, 2023 05:25am
In order to flourish and have existential permanence, a language needs both chroniclers and ambassadors, in addition...
Published 17 Sep, 2023 06:02am
A veteran journalist’s book reminds us that all that is served up in Pakistani textbooks is not the whole truth
Published 17 Sep, 2023 06:02am
A novel challenges expectations in a story built around friendships, envy, economic divides and people’s individual ways of
Published 17 Sep, 2023 06:02am
A book considers why Muslim states and societies show such a lack of tolerance when it comes to religious minorities or those who
Published 17 Sep, 2023 06:02am
In 1996, after climbing up a steep staircase, I first entered the India Club in London with my friends Anjali Mody...
Published 10 Sep, 2023 07:00am
An English translation of a book originally written by the grandson of the last Mughal king, Bahadur Shah Zafar, is well-produced
Published 10 Sep, 2023 07:00am
A memoir by a Pakistani woman is more than just about her juggling a career, marriage, abuse and her husband’s life-altering
Published 10 Sep, 2023 07:00am
An investigative journalist’s account of the ways in which elitism and oligarchic power structures have eroded the fabric and
Published 10 Sep, 2023 07:00am
Shahid Javed Burki’s latest book is a cornucopia of Pakistan’s geopolitical history and foresees a bright future for the country
Published 03 Sep, 2023 07:28am
A new novel takes on the difficult issue of acid violence in Pakistan without being preachy. But it is not for the faint of heart.
Published 03 Sep, 2023 07:23am
A beautifully produced coffee-table book takes readers on a visual journey of historic Jerusalem
Published 03 Sep, 2023 07:18am
As independence from British colonial rule swept across East Africa in the early 1960s and freedom was won in ...
Published 03 Sep, 2023 07:11am
A well-documented treatise, translated from the Sindhi original, provides a detailed account of the complex issues pertaining to
Published 27 Aug, 2023 09:05am
Set in Kerala and spanning over seven decades, a novel traverses stories about land, faith, class and love and immerses readers in
Published 27 Aug, 2023 09:01am
A reprint of a long out-of-publication book has the great A.H. Kardar himself recounting how the Pakistan cricket team cemented...
Published 27 Aug, 2023 08:57am
Amitav Ghosh’s latest work, a nonfiction book titled Smoke and Ashes, was published in India this July. Being in New Delhi at the
Published 27 Aug, 2023 08:53am
Besides being a distinguished fiction writer, with her debut novel Mass Transit published in 1998 and the latest, The Inn,...
Published 20 Aug, 2023 07:37am
A heartwarming memoir describes not just personal events but also the broader political backdrop of a transitioning Empire
Published 20 Aug, 2023 07:37am
Rebecca F. Kuang’s latest novel is a story of racial tensions, loneliness and the mechanics of a prejudiced publishing industry
Published 20 Aug, 2023 07:37am
A well-researched and well-written book offers a nuanced perspective on understanding the politics of the Taliban and the future
Published 20 Aug, 2023 07:37am
Historian Aanchal Malhotra’s debut novel is a story of deep love spread across four generations, and is steeped in scents
Published 13 Aug, 2023 08:24am
A novel is a thematic world controlled by the author. Sometimes a writer realises that his many thematic worlds fit...
Published 13 Aug, 2023 08:24am
Former US First Lady Michelle Obama’s second book imparts insight and powerful stratagems for staying optimistic, hopeful
Published 13 Aug, 2023 08:24am
Dr Akmal Husain’s new book is an exploration of entirely new areas for the renowned economist, primarily institutional
Published 13 Aug, 2023 08:24am
The writing of a debut novelist at the age of 64 reflects the wisdom and confidence that she has due to her experience and stikes
Published 06 Aug, 2023 09:09am
A new book is a treasure of information on the historiographic literature produced during the mediaeval and Mughal period in Sindh
Published 06 Aug, 2023 09:05am
Asghar Nadeem Syed’s newest novel blurs fact and fiction in musing over the lost years of Gen Zia’s dictatorship
Published 06 Aug, 2023 09:00am
One of the towering giants in the rich domain of the Karbala elegiac art of marsiya, Mirza Salamat Ali Dabir, had at one place...
Published 06 Aug, 2023 08:54am
Shehan Karunatilaka’s Booker Prize-winning sophomore novel is a fantastical murder mystery that, like his debut Chinaman, sweeps
Published 29 Jul, 2023 10:18am
A new book looks at the background, evolution, language, influences and design paradigms of Karachi’s public architecture...
Published 29 Jul, 2023 10:12am
After the Second World War, at a time of decolonisation, a fading empire pursued an ‘open door’ immigration...
Published 29 Jul, 2023 10:04am
Like other developing countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America, Pakistan also espouses an economic development model that
Published 29 Jul, 2023 09:58am
Kunwar Muhammad Jamilur Rahman Khan Jamil was born and raised in Lahore, Pakistan. He served as Joint Secretary Halqa-i-Takhleeq
Published 23 Jul, 2023 05:25am
The filmmaker abducted alongside Khalid Khwaja and Colonel Imam tells his story
Published 23 Jul, 2023 05:25am
A collection of scholarly essays is intellectually stimulating and enlightening in explaining the cross-cinema influences in...
Published 23 Jul, 2023 05:25am
The Franco-Czech writer who passed away on July 11 at the age of 94 was arguably the most quoted novelist ever and made the...
Published 23 Jul, 2023 05:25am
A sequel to her previous dystopian novel with a strong feminist agenda, Bina Shah’s latest underlines her command over her...
Published 16 Jul, 2023 09:00am
Quibbles about its production quality notwithstanding, Pakistanis would profit greatly if this scholarly book became the standard
Updated 16 Jul, 2023 09:55pm
A young man from a working class immigrant Pakistani family in Canada details his life growing up as the Other in the West
Published 16 Jul, 2023 08:49am
It’s common knowledge that Henry VIII had six wives. But the cataclysmic love triangle between Catherine of Aragon...
Published 16 Jul, 2023 08:44am
A candid autobiography of flawed cricketing superstar Wasim Akram can be disingenuous at times around some issues, but is also...
Published 09 Jul, 2023 07:57am
An anthology of life stories about diverse women may be inspirational to some expatriates living in Dubai but might find little...
Published 09 Jul, 2023 07:55am
A debut collection of Sindhi poetry candidly narrates the problems of the present day and elevates them to an artistic pedestal
Published 09 Jul, 2023 07:50am
That we make mistakes is true not just for the acquired languages we use — English and Persian, for instance — but also for when
Published 09 Jul, 2023 07:41am
Mushir Anwar’s posthumously published novel stretches the boundaries of the Pakistani novel in English and offers a captivating...
Published 02 Jul, 2023 07:59am
A compilation of 15 essays by Pakistani women tackles issues of what it means to be Pakistani, and how do the writers express...
Published 02 Jul, 2023 07:53am
Historian Manan Ahmed Asif’s ambitious mission in looking at changing nomenclature is to critically engage with the very...
Published 02 Jul, 2023 07:48am
It is testimony to Cormac McCarthy’s reputation as a writer of dark and violent fictions that his publishers ...
Published 02 Jul, 2023 07:43am
Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi’s debut novel, The Centre, takes readers into a cutthroat world of language, translation ...
Published 25 Jun, 2023 05:15am
A meticulously researched book covers the background to the waxing and waning of Pakistan-US ties
Published 25 Jun, 2023 05:15am
A book based on interviews of the last surviving prosecutor of the Nuremberg Trials, who passed away recently, is a tale of...
Published 25 Jun, 2023 05:15am
A compilation of 21 deeply moving short stories built on the events of Partition, by Pakistani and Indian writers, challenges...
Published 25 Jun, 2023 05:15am
I feel both privileged and sad to share that I was the buyer of one of the last books sold by London’s famous Al...
Published 18 Jun, 2023 07:09am
If great art delights even as it instructs, then this collection of Margaret Atwood’s essays qualifies
Published 18 Jun, 2023 07:09am
Well crafted, richly imagined and as funny as it is heart-wrenchingly moving, a debut adult novel from a Young Adult writer...
Published 18 Jun, 2023 07:09am
As Benazir Bhutto’s 70th birth anniversary approaches on June 21, Zahid Hussain’s book of interviews with the late former prime...
Published 18 Jun, 2023 07:09am
People often underestimate Moni Mohsin’s Social Butterfly, which is a pity. Anyone who reads her latest bulletin will see how
Published 11 Jun, 2023 07:05am
A sophomore novel combines the best features of Gothic fiction in a manner sure to satisfy those looking for suspense,
Updated 11 Jun, 2023 07:26am
The sixth instalment of picking books from a personal library worth re-reading…
Published 11 Jun, 2023 07:05am
How familiar are you with the Victorian-era newspaper feature known as the Agony Column? You are likely familiar with its methods
Published 11 Jun, 2023 07:05am
Two writers of Pakistani origin are up for some prestigious literary awards this month.
Published 11 Jun, 2023 07:05am
Social scientist Fouzia Saeed’s latest book takes a bold step towards acknowledging the place of women in Pakistan’s trajectory...
Updated 11 Jun, 2023 07:27am
While we find a colossus of contra-Muslim literature in the mediaeval Latin West on the one hand, there is also to be found pro...
Updated 04 Jun, 2023 02:24pm
A city gazetteer revived after 100 years is a first step towards building a replicable template for Pakistan’s other urban centres
Published 04 Jun, 2023 08:21am
Salman Rashid’s beautifully produced travel treatise is a zesty story of the origins of this extensively traversed highwa...
Updated 11 Jun, 2023 07:27am
Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy’s new book is a blunt, bold, yet well-informed and well-intentioned study of the outcomes of Pakistan’s...
Published 28 May, 2023 12:42pm
A collection of short stories translated from Punjabi to English takes readers on an immersive and poignant journey through Lahore
Published 28 May, 2023 12:35pm
A recap of Pakistan’s film history makes for a worthwhile resource and can be considered a true collector’s item
Published 28 May, 2023 12:27pm
“In the short history of the growth of America, if you look closely, there has perhaps been one good and clever man, Lincoln...
Published 28 May, 2023 11:51am
This guide on Islamic duas [prayers] aims to steer readers away from unscrupulous ‘faith healers’ and injunctions to recite surahs
Published 28 May, 2023 11:41am
Alka Joshi’s sophomore novel uses the same characters as her bestselling debut book and delves into a world of corruption, power
Published 21 May, 2023 08:20am
A book based on a PhD thesis attempts to provide a panoramic, broad-brush overview of the status of women in Pakistan, but...
Updated 23 May, 2023 12:03pm
A novel centred on video games and gamers is actually about friendship and the power of complex connections
Published 21 May, 2023 08:02am
The hospital twinkles with lights, like a beacon dispelling the darkness of the winter morning. The lobby sparkles. A steady...
Published 21 May, 2023 07:58am
If someone forgets to listen to the votive tale after a prayer has been answered, something can likely go wrong. However, if...
Published 14 May, 2023 08:17am
Athar Tahir returns to fiction with a debut novel about an ageing bureaucrat falling in love with a much younger Thai woman
Published 14 May, 2023 08:17am
A Youtuber picks 50 books from a diverse range of genres and summarises their content in a conversational way for those...
Published 14 May, 2023 08:17am
Anthropologist Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro’s latest erudite book will pique the interest of local and foreign scholars and interested...
Published 14 May, 2023 08:17am
