The Reluctant Fundamentalist

　　生命中會有那麼些時候，一些比金錢、地位，甚至愛情更重要的東西，從心底蠢蠢湧出……

　　來自巴基斯坦沒落家族的成吉思，曾經努力編織美國夢，而他也的確過上了許多移民夢寐以求的生活：從普林斯頓大學畢業，被曼哈頓的頂尖財務顧問公司招攬，跟氣質高雅的富家女談戀愛，擠身紐約上流社會。沒落貴族出身的他悄悄以為，命中注定他就是要過這樣的生活。然而，九一一恐怖攻擊之後，什麼都變了。成吉思周遭的世界、自己深愛的女人、內心的自我認同，所有的一切開始分崩離析，而一些過去從沒注意過、潛藏在心底最深處的東西，開始慢慢湧出。

＊入圍曼布克獎決選（shortlist）
＊入圍大英國協作家獎決選
＊《紐約時報》2007年年度好書
＊《出版人週刊》2007年年度好書

　　全書由成吉思在拉合爾茶館裡跟一個美國陌生人的「對話」寫成，雖說是對話，讀者卻只能聽到成吉思單方面的聲音，美國人則始終神祕地躲在陰影裡。成吉思向美國人叨叨述說自己的故事，說到最後他決定放棄大好前程與富足人生，回到家鄉拉合爾，變成一個仇恨美國的激進分子，也就是眼前這個蓄鬍子、有點陰沉的敘事者。故事接近尾聲，夜也很深了，成吉思陪美國人走回他的飯店，兩人身後似乎還跟了一些人，美國人愈來愈不安，伸手進口袋裡彷彿要掏出什麼，全書結尾在控制得恰到好處的懸疑氣氛中達到高潮。

　　From the author of the award-winning Moth Smoke comes a perspective on love, prejudice, and the war on terror that has never been seen in North American literature.

　　At a cafe table in Lahore, a bearded Pakistani man converses with a suspicious, and possibly armed, American stranger. As dusk deepens to night, he begins the tale that has brought them to this fateful meeting. . .

　　Changez is living an immigrant's dream of America. At the top of his class at Princeton, he is snapped up by Underwood Samson, an elite firm that specializes in the "valuation" of companies ripe for acquisition. He thrives on the energy of New York and the intensity of his work, and his infatuation with regal Erica promises entree into Manhattan society at the same exalted level once occupied by his own family back in Lahore.

　　For a time, it seems as though nothing will stand in the way of Changez's meteoric rise to personal and professional success. But in the wake of September 11, he finds his position in his adopted city suddenly overturned, and his budding relationship with Erica eclipsed by the reawakened ghosts of her past. And Changez's own identity is in seismic shift as well, unearthing allegiances more fundamental than money, power, and perhaps even love.

　　Elegant and compelling, Mohsin Hamid's second novel is a devastating exploration of our divided and yet ultimately indivisible world.

　　"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. I noticed that you were looking for something; more than looking, in fact you seemed to beon a mission, and since I am both a native of this city and a speaker of your language, I thought I might offer you my services as a bridge."
-from The Reluctant Fundamentalist

作者簡介

莫欣．哈密（Mohsin Hamid）

　　一九七一年出生於巴基斯坦第二大城拉合爾，在當地長大，後來到美國求學，進入普林斯頓大學主修公共與國際事務，畢業後又轉到哈佛大學法學院深造，一九九七年取得哈佛法律博士學位。之後在紐約曼哈頓的財務管理公司擔任管理顧問，也曾擔任拉合爾特約記者，目前定居倫敦。

　　二○○○年，莫欣．哈密出版處女作《蛾煙》（Moth Smoke），這部小說獲得貝蒂特拉斯克（Betty Trask）文學獎、入圍美國筆會海明威文學獎，並獲《紐約時報》選為年度好書。二○○七年，他的第二本小說《拉合爾茶館的陌生人》甫出版即在美國造成轟動，不但迅速躍上各大暢銷排行榜，還入圍英國曼布克獎、不列顛國協作家獎，並且被《紐約時報》選為年度好書、《出版人週刊》選為年度小說。