The authors behind the 2006 Booker longlist: Naeem Murr

Name: Naeem Murr

Date of Birth: Your guess is as good as mine!

Nationality: English, but lives in America.

Book on Booker longlist: The Perfect Man, a coming-of-age story about an abandoned child who is half Indian, half English.

Other books:  The Boy (1998) and The Genius of the Sea (2003). He has also written several stories, novellas and nonfiction pieces for literary journals.

Awards: 1998 New York Times Notable Book for The Boy and a Lambda Literary Award for The Boy. According to his official website he has won "numerous awards and scholarships for his writing".

Interesting facts: Many people assume from his name that he is Indian, but he is half Lebanese. He was born and raised in London.

Online resources:
The author's official website
An article by the author in Poetry magazine
An article by the author in The Gettysburg Review

Reading Matters comment: I foolishly thought Naeem was a female name, so imagine my surprise when researching this small profile to find that the author is male!  Unfortunately information about Naeem Murr is very thin on the ground (or the internet, to be more precise) and the same biographical information that appears on his official website is simply repeated verbatim everywhere else. Still, his book sounds intriguing, although, as I have stated before, I'm a little bit sick of coming-of-age stories about troubled boys, so might not chase this one up, unless, of course, it makes the shortlist!

Other books:  The Boy (1998) and The Genius of the Sea (2003). He has also written several stories, novellas and nonfiction pieces for literary journals.

Awards: 1998 New York Times Notable Book for The Boy and a Lambda Literary Award for The Boy. According to his official website he has won "numerous awards and scholarships for his writing".

Interesting facts: Many people assume from his name that he is Indian, but he is half Lebanese. He was born and raised in London.

Online resources:
The author's official website
An article by the author in Poetry magazine
An article by the author in The Gettysburg Review

Reading Matters comment: I foolishly thought Naeem was a female name, so imagine my surprise when researching this small profile to find that the author is male!  Unfortunately information about Naeem Murr is very thin on the ground (or the internet, to be more precise) and the same biographical information that appears on his official website is simply repeated verbatim everywhere else. Still, his book sounds intriguing, although, as I have stated before, I'm a little bit sick of coming-of-age stories about troubled boys, so might not chase this one up, unless, of course, it makes the shortlist!

Comments

[Will]

I've read it and I'd really recommend it. Great ensemble characterisation and strong sense of place, though highly misanthropic throughout (but in an acutely perceptive way). All very reminiscent of Rohinton Mistry, who, remember, has had all three of his novels shortlisted for the Booker. I wouldn't rule this one out...

[kimbofo]

Interesting comment, Will. I've not read anything by Rohinton Mistry, although he is on my list of 'authors I must really get around to reading someday'.

[Lotus]

Rohinton Mistry is one of my favorite authors, I'm going to have to give Naeem Murr's book a try!