Summary
Hanif Kureishi: Nothing Characteristically, the celebrated British writer Hanif Kureishi (1954) called his latest, eighth novel, "a tense and captivating exploration of human lust, powerlessness and deceit" Nothing (2017). Due to his already advanced age, but also very impaired health, the novel's protagonist Waldo, a famous film director, is forced to spend his days locked in his London apartment, "immobile, almost like a plant, in a wheelchair". Although physically disabled and increasingly frustrated by his condition, Waldo is still obsessed with sex, but also with the thought that he must record his final project, something that will "fill him with creative hope". After Waldo suspects that his wife, Zee, twenty years his junior - still an attractive, "fresh and vital" Indian woman - is cheating on him with Eddie, a self-proclaimed expert on his artwork who has recently moved in, he is determined to do something to expose the adulterers. But before serving them the revenge they deserve, Waldo wants to make sure his suspicions are justified, without choosing the means. Written with characteristic black humor and a strong sense of detail, Kureishi's new novel will once again remind readers of all the greatness and brilliance of his writing talent.
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