HOME BOY (H25)

They are renaissance men. They are boulevardiers. They are three young Pakistani men in New York City at the turn-of-the-millennium: AC a gangsta rap-spouting academic; Jimbo a hulking Pushtun deejay from the streets of Jersey City; and Chuck a wide-eyed off-the-boat kid searching for himself and the American Dream. In a city where origins matter less than the talent for self-invention the three Metrostanis have the guts to claim the place as their own. But when they embark on a road trip to the hinterland weeks after 9/11 in search of the Shaman a Gatsbyesque compatriot who seemingly disappears into thin air things go horribly wrong. Suddenly they find themselves in a changed charged America. Rollicking bittersweet and sharply observed Home Boy is at once an immigrant's tale a mystery a story of love and loss as well as a unique meditation on Americana and notions of collective identity. It announces the debut of an original electrifying voice in contemporary fiction.