Indeed, Hamid seems thoroughly conversant with literary theory - particularly reader-centered literary theory - and seems to implement it effortlessly. But Filthy Rich is also marked by moments of seeming omniscience, as the narrator describes events it is impossible for him to have observed first-hand, a violation of literary convention that works beautifully, contributing to that fable-like character. This time, the effect is more lyrical, if one can speak of lyricism in a book of sometimes brutal honesty.

The last time around, it was deployed to implicate the reader, whose uneasiness with the narrator was very much the point (is he, or isn't he, a terrorist? Are you, or aren't you, a racist?). Like The Reluctant Fundamentalist - the film version, directed by Mira Nair, will be released domestically next month - Hamid pulls off the difficult technique of second person narration. And yet in the space of less than 230 small pages he renders an entire life that seems simultaneously rich in detail and resonant as a fable.

Like his two previous books, Moth Smoke (2000) and The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007), this one is brief. It showcases what have become a familiar set of gifts, among them a compelling voice, a keen feel for structure, and, given his literary sensibility, a surprisingly efficient narrative drive. How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia solidifies Mohsin Hamid's claim as a major contemporary novelist. His new book, Sensing the Past: Hollywood Stars and Historical Visions, was recently published by Oxford University Press. Jim Cullen, who teaches at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York, is a book review editor at HNN.

How to get filthy rich in asia