I think the most effective forms of critique are ones that establish a common ground for people to occupy, and then appeal to the best nature of people on that common ground. Mohsin Hamid appealcommoncritique Change image and share on social
For me, writing a novel is more like digging a well than climbing a mountain - some heroic thing where I set out to conquer. I just sit quietly for a few years, and then it starts to become something. Mohsin Hamid climbconquerdig Change image and share on social
The world seems concerned with Pakistan primarily as an actor in global attempts to combat terrorism. Mohsin Hamid actorattemptcombat Change image and share on social
I took a couple of creative writing classes with Joyce Carol Oates at Princeton University, and in my senior year there, I took a long fiction workshop with Toni Morrison. I fell in love with it. Mohsin Hamid carolclasscouple Change image and share on social
My grandparents used to pray five times a day, but they were quiet about their own thing. Completely liberal day by day; my grandmother was a social worker and my grandfather was an engineer, but they never talked about religion. My entire life I couldn't remember one conversation I had with them about religion. Mohsin Hamid completelyconversationday share on social
My earliest memories are of watching 'Star Trek' and 'MASH' while my parents barbecued chicken in the back yard. I was an American kid, through and through. Mohsin Hamid americanbackbarbecue Change image and share on social
I'd rather create a miniature painting than a Taj Mahal of a book. Mohsin Hamid bookcreatemahal Change image and share on social
I am sometimes asked to name my favourite books. The list changes, depending on my mood, the year, tricks played by memory. I might mention novels by Nabokov and Calvino and Tolkien on one occasion, by Fitzgerald and Baldwin and E.B. White on another. Camus often features, as do Tolstoy, Borges, Morrison and Manto. Mohsin Hamid askbaldwinbook share on social
For people who are at the bottom economically, the world is becoming a harder and harder place. And yet the incentives to become rich are so great because enormous amounts of wealth are being accumulated. And so those two things, that carrot and stick, are beating people along this trajectory of trying desperately to move up in the world. Mohsin Hamid accumulateamountbeat share on social
Pakistan now is like a horror film franchise. You know, it's 'Friday the 13th, Episode 63: The Terrorist from Pakistan.' And each time we hear of Pakistan it's in that context. Mohsin Hamid 13thcontextepisode Change image and share on social