Since his astonishing Academy Award-nominated film,
My Beautiful Laundrette
(1985), Hanif Kureishi has been recognized as a major writer who has both documented and profoundly influenced contemporary British culture. His first novel,
The Buddha of Suburbia
(1990), remains a key work in redefining our sense of what it means to be English in the postcolonial era.
Hanif Kureishi: Contemporary Critical Perspectives
brings together leading scholars of contemporary British fiction and culture to reassess the full range of the author's writings, from novels such as
The Black Album
,
My Son the Fanatic
and
Something to Tell You
to films such as
Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, My Son the
Fanatic
Venus
. As well as exploring Kureishi's handling of such themes as Thatcherism, terrorism, race, class and sexuality, the book move moves beyond sociological and psychoanalytical approaches, examining the stylistic features of his most recent novel
, The Last Word
. The volume includes interviews with Stephen Frears, the director of
My Beautiful Launderette
, and with Hanif Kureishi himself, as well as a foreword by Roger Michell, who has directed several of the author's screenplays, most recently
Le Week-End
.