Peter Morey's Islamophobia and the Novel has the kernels of a more interesting book than the one we get to read. Some of Morey's claims—that Islamophobia reveals more about the West than it does about Islam and Muslims and that this is visible in novels, that novels can be caught in the contradictions of liberal humanism even as they critique Islamophobia, that novelistic polyphony can reveal the ambivalences and ambiguities at the heart of Western Islamophobia—are useful. Moreover, the list of novels and essays Morey engages—all anglophone, by John Updike, Martin Amis, Ian McEwan, Leila Aboulela, Kamila Shamsie, Nadeem Aslam—is interesting and revealing. The scope is ambitious, and the chapters are organized around genres, some recognizable—thrillers and spy fiction—and some new: the Muslim misery memoir. Perhaps the most interesting and revealing chapter is the one that brings together the reading of Updike's The Terrorist, McEwan's Saturday, and Amis's...

You do not currently have access to this content.