THE BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA

The author of the acclaimed film MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE puts his first novel in the mouth of an East Indian teen living in the London suburbs. The bisexual Karim yearns for independence and the big city. His father, a philandering self-styled Buddhist guru, and his affairs with male and female schoolmates complicate his dreary young life. The theater beckons. Does this sound hilarious? Well, it is. It's also earthy, clever, and dripping with irony. You wouldn't guess it from the plot outline, nor from Christopher Simpson's abysmal narration. Simpson shines in passages of dialogue but otherwise reads in an unendurable near monotone. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 03/JAN 04]