Shame - Salman Rushdie

In this brilliant novel, Rushdie masterfully combines history, art, language, politics, and religion. Set in a country not quite Pakistan, the story centers around the families of two men--one a celebrated warrior, the other, a debauched playboy engaged in a protracted duel. nThe novel that set the stage for his modern classic, The Satanic Verses, Shame is Salman Rushdie's phantasmagoric epic of an unnamed country that is not quite Pakistan.

In this dazzling tale of an ongoing duel between the families of two men-one a celebrated wager of war, the other a debauched lover of pleasure-Rushdie brilliantly portrays a world caught between honor and humiliation-shamelessness, shame: the roots of violence. Shame is an astonishing story that grows more timely by the day.