Hanif Kureishi

Writing the self: A biography

By: Ruvani Ranasinha

Write A Review

Hardcover | 29 August 2023

At a Glance

Hardcover
924 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.4 x 15.6 x 4.7

Hardcover

Limited Stock Available

$86.50

In Stock and Aims to ship next day

From the global successes of My Beautiful Laundrette and The Buddha of Suburbia, through to late masterpieces such as The Nothing, Hanif Kureishi is one of Britain's most popular and versatile writers.

Drawing on Kureishi's unexplored personal archive, recently acquired by the British Library, each chapter in Ruvani Ranashina's jaw-droppingly honest biography recounts a decade of the author's life, illuminating the work he produced in each period. This structure reflects the novelist and screenwriter's own preoccupation with self-reinvention and the fluidity of identity: 'Every decade you become someone else'.

Kureishi has redefined British identity, exploring key issues such as Thatcherism, terrorism, race, class, and sexuality. Hanif Kureishi â" Writing the self: A biography is a tour-de-force, exploring for the first time this provocative artist. Looking at his novels, including Intimacy and the Black Album, short stories, and screenplays â" the Mother and Venus, and his collaborations with such figures as David Bowie, Roger Michell and Stephen Frears, Ranashini analyses this sometime controversial figure with wit and empathy.

Industry Reviews

'This is a magnificent, meticulous and exhaustive biography, and one worthy of its mercurial subject.'
The Spectator

'Ranasinha succeeds in her aim of appearing definitive, while establishing Kureishi's significance to British cultural life of the past 50 years.'
The Times

'Ruvani Ranasinha's Hanif Kureishi: Writing the self is an illuminating biography; the fact that it is also a portrait of modern Britain is a tribute both to the scope of Kureishi's work and to the thoroughness of Ranasinha's research.'
The TLS

'Ruvani Ranasinha illuminates the life as well as the work of the beloved writer Hanif Kureishi. This well-researched and exhaustive biography has an aura of completeness.'
Amitava Kumar, author of A Time Outside This Time

'Ruvani Ranasinha's life of Hanif Kureishi is not just an impressively comprehensive portrait of the artist as a young man, it also provides an engrossing snapshot of his times. With insight and sympathy, Ranasinha captures a rare turning-point in the development of our literary tradition. For all the admirers of Kureishi and his work, this must be essential reading.'
Robert McCrum, author of The 100 Best Novels in English

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.