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Article: Missing the terrorist target; John Updike tells us more about himself than the teenage terrorist who is the central character in his latest novel.
- Article from:
- The Evening Standard (London, England)
- Article date:
- July 31, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Solo Syndication Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: DAVID SEXTON
Terrorist by John Updike
AHMAD Ashmawy Mulloy is 18, in his last year at high school in New Jersey.
He's the son of a single mother, Teresa, a red-haired Irishwoman aged 40, who works as a nursing aide. His father was an Egyptian exchange student, long since gone.
In search of a substitute, Ahmad has come under the sway of a creepy fundamentalist imam, Shaikh Rashid, with whom he studies the Koran. Ahmad believes all those around him who are not Muslim are unclean, devils even.
Yet, though chaste and still a virgin, he is attracted by a louche, buxom black girl, Joryleen.
"Women are animals ...