Considered one of the greatest American writers of the twentieth century, John Updike was a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author and was also the recipient of many prestigious literary awards. A prodigious and prolific writer, most of Updike’s novels centre on religion, sex and the American middle class. Talking about average American people, he once said, "I like middles. It is in middles that extremes clash, where ambiguity restlessly rules." Many of his novels have been adapted for movies and television for their visual appeal and proximity to the lives of Americans. Terrorist is the 22nd and the last fiction novel written by John Updike. Updike turns his considerable talent for storytelling and social commentary to the most important topic of the nascent twenty-first century. The storyline focuses on Ahmad Ashmawy Mulloy, a teenager from northern New Jersey whose Egyptian father deserted Ahmad’s Irish mother when the child was very young. Readers learn early in the novel that Ahmad has studied Arabic with Shaikh Rashid, the imam at the small mosque he has attended since he was barely eleven. For years he has read the Qurՙn with Rashid and listened as the older Muslim preached against the voices of America and promoted the simple joys that come from following the Straight Path. It may be farfetched to believe that a boy not yet in his teen years could reject American values in favour of those he finds at the local mosque… You can listen online to free English audiobook “Terrorist” by John Updike on our website.
