Staff Picks

Five years ago, Mohsin Hamid's bestselling novel Exit West won critical acclaim and landed on many Best of the Year lists, including a spot on the Booker Prize shortlist. This summer marks his return with The Last White Man, another magical realist fable, this time tackling issues of racism and identity. So far reception has been mostly positive, with Kirkus declaring it "a brilliantly realized allegory of racial transformation" while Oprah Daily calls it "another bracing achievement from a consummate master." The New York Times' reviewer, author David Gates, is more critical but still describes Hamid's approach in a way that makes it clear the book is worth a look. He quotes Hamid as saying "I believe fiction has a strange power … that enables it to destabilize the collective imaginings we inherit and reproduce," but then dismisses this lofty statement with the retort "Our imaginings certainly could use some destabilizing, although literary fiction hardly has the transformative clout its practitioners wish it had." While Gates is probably right that such literary fiction probably won't reach those who most need to receive its message, many readers will agree that it is still a very good starting point.

Publisher's Description:

One morning, a man wakes up to find himself transformed. Overnight, Anders's skin has turned dark, and the reflection in the mirror seems a stranger to him. At first he shares his secret only with Oona, an old friend turned new lover. Soon, reports of similar events begin to surface. Across the land, people are awakening in new incarnations, uncertain how their neighbors, friends, and family will greet them. Some see the transformations as the long-dreaded overturning of the established order that must be resisted to a bitter end. In many, like Anders's father and Oona's mother, a sense of profound loss and unease wars with profound love. As the bond between Anders and Oona deepens, change takes on a different shading: a chance at a kind of rebirth--an opportunity to see ourselves, face to face, anew.

Find The Last White Man in our online catalog.

Though historical fiction isn't a genre I have much familiarity with, this book was engrossing enough to get me out of my comfort zone. Awareness of the Tudor England time period might give the book a greater sense of irony, but I found the characters and their various political maneuvers were plenty interesting without prior knowledge. The terse and quietly expressive writing makes the setting feel uncertain and alive without the characters feeling like modern 21st century inserts. You might learn something by accident after reading this book, but it never feels like homework.