What Happened?

Hanif Kureishi's new collection of essays and fiction, "What Happened?" is a comic, dark, and insightful look at contemporary life, covering topics from social media to the ancient classics. It displays Kureishi's characteristic boundless curiosity and wit, making it a celebration of his unique body of work.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 208 pages
Publication date: 03 June 2021
Publisher: Faber & Faber

Comic, dark, and insightful, What Happened? is Hanif Kureishi's new collection of essays and fiction. No topic is too fringe or too mainstream for this insatiable and much-loved author. From social media to the ancient classics, from appraisals of David Bowie to Georges Simenon to Keith Jarrett, this is the latest literary event in a unique body of work that displays Kureishi's characteristic boundless curiosity and wit. What Happened? is as much about the very fact of Kureishi's catholic appetite for culture as his observations and insights themselves, and any new book in his oeuvre is a justification for celebration.

Hanif Kureishi is a British novelist, screenwriter, and filmmaker who has written novels, short stories, and essays on a wide range of subjects, including race, culture, and identity. He is best known for his novels The Black Album, The Buddha of Suburbia, and My Beautiful Laundrette, which were all published in the 1980s. Kureishi was born in London in 1954 and grew up in a working-class family in South London. He attended a Catholic boys' school and later studied English literature at the University of London. After graduating, Kureishi worked as a journalist for several newspapers and magazines, including The Guardian and The Times. In 1983, he published his first novel, The Black Album, which was a critical success and was nominated for the Booker Prize. The novel was about a group of young black musicians in London who are trying to make it in the music industry. The Buddha of Suburbia, which was published in 1990, was Kureishi's second novel and was also a critical success. The novel was about a young Indian man who moves to London and tries to find his place in the world. My Beautiful Laundrette, which was published in 1985, was Kureishi's third novel and was his most famous work. The novel was about a young Pakistani man who opens a laundrette in London and falls in love with a British woman. The novel was a critical and commercial success and was adapted into a film in 1985, which was also a critical and commercial success. Kureishi's novels are known for their comic and dark humor, their exploration of race, culture, and identity, and their portrayal of the lives of working-class people in London. He has also written several essays on literature, film, and culture, including "The End of the Novel" and "The Art of Fiction." In addition to his writing, Kureishi has also directed several films, including The Four Feathers (1999), The Sea (2002), and A Thousand Years of Good Prayers (2017). He has been awarded several prestigious awards for his writing, including the Booker Prize, the Whitbread Prize, and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. Kureishi is a widely respected and influential writer who has made a significant contribution to British literature and culture. His novels and essays are widely read and studied, and his films have been praised for their artistic and commercial success.

Weight: 174g
Dimension: 129 x 197 x 17 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780571352067
Edition number: Main