In Hanif Kureishi's latest novel, Gabriel - a fifteen-year-old schoolboy - is forced to come to terms with a new life as his equilibrium is shattered by his father's departure from the family home. Trying to fend for himself, as well as emotionally supporting his confused and confusing parents, Gabriel is grow up quickly - with support only from his remembered twin brother, Archie, and his 'gift' - the ability to make sense of his world through painting and drawing. A chance visit to 70s rock star Lester Jones crystallizes the turbulent emotions inside Gabriel and helps him to engage with his gift and to heal the rift with his family. In Gabriel's gift, Hanif Kureishi has written a tender, witty and moving meditation on the power of the imagination to enrich our lives. Praise for Midnight All Day by Hanif Kureishi.

Gabriel's Gift is in many ways an old-fashioned coming-of-age novel that gives early adolescent angst its full pathos but Kureishi is saved from the potential mawkishness of his subject by prose attuned to the streets, pubs and people he writes about:

The place was full of childish men from the post office and the local bus garage gazing up at the big TV screen. Dad's grey-faced mates were playing pool. They all looked the same to Gabriel with their roll-ups, pints and musty clothes. They rarely went out into the light, unless they stood outside the pub on a sunny day, and they were as likely to eat anything green, as they were to drink anything blue or wear anything pink.

Gabriel's gift is that he is an artist trying to find his own colour-palette in the grey-tinged North London world described above and overcome the pain his parents' messy personal lives cause him. A meeting with Lester Jones, an ageing glam rock star, and former pal of Gabriel's somewhat hapless dad gives him the energy and opportunity to embark on his task of self-making and finding a better place in the world. Lester's lesson is that Gabriel's life and work need to be one thing. Gabriel's ally on this path is the voice of his remembered twin brother Archie. En route, his parents reconcile; his father finds some sense of purpose in teaching guitar and important friendships with his schoolmate Zak and the local gay restaurateur, Speedy, are formed.

The tentative sweetness of its protagonist remains the novels greatest strength. The writing is wistful, almost whimsical, though one misses a little of the anarchic nastiness that characterised the best of Kureishi's earlier work.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　--Neville Hoad

length: (cm)21.5 　　　 　　　　　 　 width:(cm)13.2

哈尼夫·库雷西(Hanif Kureishi) 巴基斯坦移民后裔，1954年出生于英国肯特郡，大学主修哲学。他多才多艺，作品包括舞台剧本、小说、广播剧及电视电影剧本等，亦为电影导演。是继萨尔曼·拉什迪之后在世界文坛成就重大影响的亚裔作家 1985年创作电影剧本《我美丽的洗衣店》(MyBeautifulLaundrette)，获1986年奥斯卡金像奖最佳电影剧本提名；1991年执导电影《伦敦杀了我》(London Kills Me)。在2004年上海国际电影节上，展影了其编剧的影片《母亲》。 1990年以首部小说《郊区佛爷》(TheBuddhaofSuburbia)获Whitebread文学奖。其后陆续推出小说《黑色唱片》(The Black Album，1995)、《爱在蓝色时代》(Lovein aBlueTime，1997)、《亲密》(Intimacy,1997)，《整日午夜》(Midnight All Day,1999)、《加百列的礼物》(Gabriel’SGift，2001)，迅速跃升为欧洲文坛新巨星。根据其小说改编的电影《亲密》获2001年柏林电影节金熊奖。他的最新长篇小说为2004年出版的《身体》(The Body)。 库雷西深受流行文化的影响。早期作品中的幽默反讽享誉世界，近作对情欲与两性冲突的探讨充满了动人的深情。库雷西以其幽默、脱俗，前卫被认作是当今世界文坛最富魅力的杰出作家之一。