TMR Bookgroup Discusses “The Last White Man” by Mohsin Hamid

The Guardian calls Mohsin Hamid’s new novel “a hypnotic race fable,” in which “as white people suddenly awake in brown skin, they are forced to confront uncomfortable truths about power and identity.”

“One morning Anders, a white man, woke up to find he had turned a deep and undeniable brown.” So begins Mohsin Hamid’s inventive new novel, The Last White Man. Anders, as it turns out, is not an isolated case. More people in an unnamed town begin to change, including Oona, a yoga instructor and a friend of Anders. Violence inevitably erupts around them. White vigilante gangs terrorize the transformed, while some doggedly refuse to accept an end to whiteness.

At its heart, this is a novel about seeing, being seen, loss and letting go. The loss of privilege that comes from being perceived as white, and no longer being able to view the world from within whiteness, are some of the anxieties examined here.

(From The Guardian review by Guy Gunaratne.)

Sunday, Oct. 30th. To join the conversation, email books@themarkaz.org.