![]() ![]() The guiding principle of Underwood Samson as it advised companies how to become more efficient by paring “unnecessary expenditure” - which usually meant firing employees or enforcing pay cuts - gives the novel’s title its second meaning. ![]() In a single monologue, Changez tells the visitor over a period of hours about how, after a successful time at Princeton, he became a whiz-kid at a Manhattan asset-valuation company, Underwood Samson, but slowly, after the eye-opener of 9/11, became disillusioned with both his profession and his adoptive country, and decided to return to the simpler life in Pakistan. Somewhat to my shame, I found myself wondering if spotting the relevant line on the cover might have made it more or less likely that I bought the book: my (limited) experience with Booker winners has been I think generally favorable, but mixed.Ĭhangez, a young Pakistani man, sits down at a market cafe in Lahore with an unnamed American visitor whose motivations seem from the outset a little shifty. It was only when I got it home that I noticed (duh) that it had been shortlisted for the Man Booker back in the day - presumably 2007 or 2008. ![]() I picked up this shortish book on impulse recently and am very glad I did so. ![]()
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