THE LAST WORD by Hanif Kureishi (Scribner/Simon & Schuster), 304 pages, $29.99 cloth. Rating: NNNN
Though some have disdained The Last Word as a roman à clef exploiting Patrick French’s real-life experience writing and publishing a biography of literary giant V.S. Naipaul, Hanif Kureishi has more on his mind than taking down a well-known author.
His story of young, ambitious writer Harry visiting a Nobel laureate in his country home to pry out info for a biography is first a pointed satire of the book industry. Harry imagines his work will garner him a whack of dough and TV spots galore. His subject, the fading, cash-strapped Mamoon Azam, has approached his own publisher to produce an authorized bio that would garner some much-needed attention.
Kureishi doesn’t hesitate to make himself a target. Harry’s terrified that if he fails at the project he’ll wind up teaching creative writing – exactly as Kureishi’s currently doing.
Mamoon is a wonderful character, gifted, supremely egotistical, politically incorrect in every way – both in terms of his treatment of women and his support for right-wing regimes – and, though drawn to Harry, not quite ready to cooperate with his official biographer.
Ultimately, Kureishi’s interested in what makes a writer great: what support does he need how must he behave? Mamoon makes the claim that being a prick and using his for power and pleasure are artistic essentials. You get the sense that Kureishi doesn’t agree.
Both Mamoon and Harry behave badly toward women, bedding them at every opportunity. Kureishi’s sexual sequences are godawful – overwritten and rife with clichés. But when Harry and Mamoon are talking about art or when the aging novelist shows his vulnerability – as when he appears to fall for Harry’s wife – Kureishi shows deep insight.
More than anything else, The Last Word is just damned entertaining.
susanc@nowtoronto.com | @susangcole
