The Buddha of Suburbia - Hanif Kureishi

Set in suburban London in the 1970's, Karim, Kureishi's hero is a teenager dreaming of leaving his sleepy South London suburb for the bright lights of the city.  His father - the Buddha referred to in the title is an infamous mystic who runs away with one of his disciples; Eva.  Karim elects to follow his father to live with him, the enigmatic Eva and her son Charlie, the lead singer of a successful local bad and whom Karim (along with most of their school) hero-worships.  Despite dropping out of 6th form college, Karim with the help of Eva manages to gain entry to the London theatre scene, where he meets a collection of eccentrics, often with some hilarious results.  There are a lot of laugh out loud moments in this book, along with gasps of shock (and horror) as Karim recounts his burgeoning sexual experiences, however I found the bits in between a bit tedious.  The descriptions of the 'new' punk music are interesting for music fans and the sub-plot of Karim's best friend Jamila's arranged marriage raises questions that are still relevant in today's society.  Along with Karim's story, we also get a glimpse of what life was life for second generation Asians in the 1970's and how they coped with finding their niche in a society that treated them differently (both positively and negatively) whilst they felt more akin to their British neighbours than their parents and 'community'.  Enjoyable in parts, in my opinion the book is probably more relevant to people who lived through the time period but it is worth a read for the humorous parts alone.