Description
Book SynopsisA fast-paced journey around Karachi in the company of those who know the city inside out - from an electrifying new voice in narrative non-fiction. Karachi. Pakistan's largest city is a sprawling metropolis of 20 million people. It is a place of political turbulence in which those who have power wield it with brutal and partisan force, a place in which it pays to have friends in the right places and to avoid making deadly enemies. It is a society where lavish wealth and absolute poverty live side by side, and where the lines between idealism and corruption can quickly blur. It takes an insider to know where is safe, who to trust, and what makes Karachi tick, and in this powerful debut, Samira Shackle explores the city of her mother's birth in the company of a handful of Karachiites. Among them is Safdar the ambulance driver, who knows the city's streets and shortcuts intimately and will stop at nothing to help his fellow citizens. There is Parveen, the activist whose outspoken views on injustice corruption repeatedly lead her towards danger. And there is Zille, the hardened journalist whose commitment to getting the best scoops puts him at increasing risk. As their individual experiences unfold, so Shackle tells the bigger story of Karachi over the past decade: a period in which the Taliban arrive in Pakistan, adding to the daily perils for its residents and pushing their city into the international spotlight. Writing with intimate local knowledge and a global perspective, Shackle paints a nuanced and vivid portrait of one of the most complex, most compelling cities in the world.
Trade ReviewAny of the finely drawn characters in Karachi Vice could be the subject of an entire book - placed beside each other they form a tapestry that reveals a violent, vibrant, remarkable, battered city. I was completely gripped by it -- Kamila Shamsie
A blistering tour of Karachi's mean streets, seen through the eyes of the people who know it best. Heart-breaking and compelling in equal measure. To understand the forces shaping the mega-cities of the global south, join Shackle's characters and get under the skin of Pakistan's largest -- Ben Rawlence
Remarkable... compelling... This is a sensitive and elegantly constructed book, which offers a moving snapshot of a restless city and its resilient citizens * Prospect *
Sobering and gripping... Karachi Vice meticulously constructs a vibrant mosaic of a city's underbelly, while disentangling the ways in which Karachi is enmeshed with crime lords, gangs, political interests and militants. Samira Shackle's prose is nimble and propulsive, as she expertly combines interview, anecdote and reportage with in-depth socio-political analysis * Rabeea Saleem, TLS *
Shackle excels at drawing out the incisive quote * Abhrajyoti Chakraborty, Guardian *
As a picture of the challenges of getting through the day in an environment of utter lawlessness, Karachi Vice is mesmerising * Strong Words *
