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  • Londonstani See large image

    Londonstani (Hardback) By (author) Gautam Malkani

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    Short Description for LondonstaniPresenting the lives of a gang of four young men, this book explores Britain as a country of young Asians and white boys trying to work out a place for themselves in the shadow of the divergent cultures of their parent's generation. It deals with tribalism, aggressive masculinity, integration, and cross-cultural chirpsing techniques.
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    Londonstani3

    Mark Thwaite Gautam Malkani's Londonstani is set amongst the self-described 'Desi' kids of Southwest London, among the feed roads and feeder towns of Heathrow and Hounslow, kids who have rejected both the first-generation nostalgia of their parents and the multicultural world they're supposed to be a part of. Hardjit, Amit, Ravi and Jas have the Sikh and Hindu side of Hounslow High Street sewn up; they settle scores within the rudeboy circuit by staging fights at the BMX track and unlock enough boosted Nokias to make sure they have the blingest mobile phone in the house (an essential requirement under Rudeboy Rule #2, as Jas, our narrator, carefully explains).
    But the boys are on the lookout for a bigger scam than Hounslow can provide, and it is a naive English teacher who, in an excruciating attempt to "understand" their rage, loutishness and refusal to integrate, provides the opportunity. His one previous success, a local boy made good - Cambridge, the City, penthouse in Belgravia - takes the gang under his wing, and provides an education in how to make some real money.
    Londonstani rockets along with its mix of text speak, class voyeurism and hilariously exaggerated masculinity (the relentless homophobia is countered by frequent bouts of lovingly-described man-on-man combat and narcissistic preening). Despite the inane chatter, no non-rudeboy can fail to enjoy Jas' desperate attempts to keep up with his harder, more with-it mates or cheer when he makes it with Samira, the fittest girl at the Green School for Fit Girls - and a Muslim to boot. But Malkani's frequent editorialising on the finer points of Desi etiquette and street economics, while entertaining, slow the pace, and his attempts to bring Jas to a moral reckoning with his assumed gangsterism suck the life from an otherwise enjoyable ride. And the less said about the final twist the better. by Mark Thwaite

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