In einem Straßencafé in Lahore kreuzen sich die Wege des Pakistani Changez und eines schweigsamen Amerikaners. Die beiden Männer könnten nicht unterschiedlicher sein, und doch scheint sie etwas zu verbinden. Als langsam die Nacht hereinbricht, enthüllt Changez seine Lebensgeschichte und erzählt, wie er als junger, ehrgeiziger Gaststudent nach Princeton kommt und wie er den »amerikanischen Traum« par excellence erlebt. Noch wähnt er sich auf der Seite der Gewinner. Aber nach dem 11. September gerät sein Weltbild ins Wanken und plötzlich erscheint ihm die Bindung an seine Heimat wichtiger als Geld, Macht und Erfolg. Während sich allmählich Changez’ Lebensweg mit all seinen Konsequenzen abzeichnet, wird die Atmosphäre zwischen dem Pakistani und dem Amerikaner immer beunruhigender. Allein im Spiegel des Erzählers zeichnet sich ab, dass der grausame Höhepunkt der Geschichte kurz bevorsteht

From the internationally bestselling author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist, the boldly imagined tale of a poor boy’s quest for wealth and love. His first two novels established Mohsin Hamid as a radically inventive storyteller with his finger on the world’s pulse. *How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia* meets that reputation and exceeds it. The astonishing and riveting tale of a man’s journey from impoverished rural boy to corporate tycoon, it steals its shape from the business self-help books devoured by ambitious youths all over “rising Asia.” It follows its nameless hero to the sprawling metropolis where he begins to amass an empire built on that most fluid, and increasingly scarce, of goods: water. Yet his heart remains set on something else: on the pretty girl whose star rises along with his, their paths crossing and recrossing, a lifelong affair sparked and snuffed and sparked again by the forces that careen their fates along. How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia is a striking slice of contemporary life at a time of crushing upheaval. Romantic without being sentimental, political without being didactic, and spiritual without being religious, it brings an unflinching gaze to the violence and hope it depicts. And it creates two unforgettable characters who find moments of transcendent intimacy in the midst of shattering change

In Lahore, Daru Shezad is a junior banker with a hashish habit. When his old friend Ozi moves back to Pakistan, Daru wants to be happy for him. Ozi has everything: a beautiful wife and child, an expensive foreign education -- and a corrupt father who bankrolls his lavish lifestyle. As jealousy sets in, Daru's life slowly unravels. He loses his job. Starts lacing his joints with heroin. Becomes involved with a criminally-minded rickshaw driver. And falls in love with Ozi's lonely wife. But how low can Daru sink? Is he guilty of the crime he finds himself on trial for?

At a cafe table in Lahore, a bearded Pakistani man converses with an uneasy American stranger. As dusk deepens to night, he begins the tale that has brought them to this fateful encounter… Changez is living an immigrant’s dream of America. At the top of his class at Princeton, he is snapped up by the elite valuation firm of Underwood Samson. He thrives on the energy of New York, and his budding romance with elegant, beautiful Erica promises entry into Manhattan society at the same exalted level once occupied by his own family back in Lahore. But in the wake of September 11, Changez finds his position in his adopted city suddenly overturned, and his budding relationship with Erica eclipsed by the reawakened ghosts of her past. And Changez’s own identity is in seismic shift as well, unearthing allegiances more fundamental than money, power, and maybe even love