Synopses & Reviews
“Teddy Wayne has written a brilliant book. Karim Issar is one of the freshest, funniest heroes Ive come across in a long time.”
— Ben Fountain, bestselling author of
Brief Encounters with Che Guevara “An innovative and incisive meditation on the wages of corporate greed, the fundamental darkness of its vision lit by the authors great comic intelligence and wit.”
— Kathryn Davis, author of The Thin Place, Hell: A Novel, and Versailles
With a fresh and singular voice, Teddy Wayne marks his literary debut with the story of one 26 year old Middle Eastern mans attempt to live the American Dream in New York City. Like the award-winning Netherland and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Kapitoil provides an absorbing look into American culture and New York finance from an outsiders perspective.
Review
“[A] strong and heartfelt debut novel… Its a slick first novel that beautifully captures a time that, in retrospect, seems tragically naïve.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Review
“Brilliant...The beauty of Kapitoil, Waynes debut novel, is that it tackles broad and serious themes with humor and an eye for detail. Karims carefully articulated voice is a thing of beauty....Teddy Wayne = a major literary talent.” Houston Chronicle
Review
“[A]t once a thought-provoking meditation on late capitalism, and poignant coming-of-age story.” Blackbook
Review
“Flat out top-notch. Kapitoil makes you see America and the English language more clearly than ever before, and Karim Issar, the books protagonist, is one of the most interesting characters weve had a chance to spend time with.” McSweeneys.net
Review
“Kapitoil is set before 9/11, but its depiction of the reckless excess that lies behind our current debacle groups it with Adam Hasletts Union Atlantic and Jonathan Dees The Privileges...an unusually enjoyable experience.” The Independent
Review
Named one of the top ten first novels of 2010 by Booklist!“[A] funny and incisive novel of one young mans heady introduction to American culture.” Booklist
Review
“This wonderfully assured debut novel, at once poignant, insightful, and funny…is a delight. Best of all, however, is simply being inside Karims head as he ponders Jackson Pollocks paintings, baseball, programming, and the mysteries of love and life in the U.S. ” Booklist (starred review)
Review
“Wayne has written one of the best novels of my generation.... Why did 9/11 happen, and why do we continue to respond so blindly? Wayne answers these questions better than Mohsin Hamid or Joseph ONeill, the best authors of this genre until now.” Boston Globe
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“[An] affecting, timely, and frequently hilarious debut novel.” Vanity Fair
Review
“The novel is wise and humble, funny and sweet, so incredibly touching.” MarieClaire.com
Review
“Funny, intelligent and poignant...With Waynes clever prose and simultaneously romantic and skeptical viewpoint, Teddy Wayne is undoubtedly an exciting new voice on the sceneand Kapitoil is a book that is not to be missed.” BookPage.com
Review
“KAPITOIL is one of those uncommon novels that really is novel. Though the storytelling is conventional, it is satisfyingly so, and the books estimable young narrator is a human type whom nobody until Wayne was ever inspired to write about.” Jonathan Franzen, bestselling author of < i=""> The Corrections <>
Review
“[Karim]s a typethe nerdy and needy young immigrantthat were all familiar with but that no other writer, as far as I know, has invented such a funny and compelling voice and story for.” Jonathan Franzen to TheDailyBeast.com
Review
“A book ripe with beauty and potential....Karim Issar is a character readers will remember, and readers had better prepare themselves to remember the name of Teddy Wayne as well. Its one theyll be hearing again and again in the months following Kapitoils release.” Bomb Magazine
Review
“Every once in a while, you encounter a character in a work of fiction who feels like such a real person, such a friend, that once you finish the book, you miss having him around. Karim Issar, the protagonist of Teddy Waynes captivating debut novel Kapitoil, is such a character.” Salon.com
Review
“[A] brilliant book. Karim Issar is one of the freshest, funniest heroes Ive come across in a long time... In its honesty, humor, intelligence, and hard-won wisdom, Kapitoil is ‘Karim-esque to the nth degree, and that is a very good way to be.” Ben Fountain, bestselling author of < i=""> Brief Encounters with Che Guevara <>
Review
“Teddy Waynes debut novel is an innovative and incisive meditation on the wages of corporate greed, the fundamental darkness of its vision lit by the authors great comic intelligence and wit.” Kathryn Davis, author of < i=""> The Thin Place <> , < i=""> Hell: A Novel <> , and < i=""> Versailles <>
Review
“What a wonderful character Karim isthe hapless, hilarious, math-obsessed hero of Teddy Waynes first novel. KAPITOIL is a delight. Who knew oil futures could be such fun?” Joshua Henkin, author of SWIMMING ACROSS THE HUDSON and MATRIMONY
Synopsis
Teddy Wayne has written a brilliant book. Karim Issar is one of the freshest, funniest heroes I ve come across in a long time. Ben Fountain, bestselling author of Brief Encounters with Che Guevara
An innovative and incisive meditation on the wages of corporate greed, the fundamental darkness of its vision lit by the author s great comic intelligence and wit. Kathryn Davis, author of The Thin Place, Hell: A Novel, and Versailles
With a fresh and singular voice, Teddy Wayne marks his literary debut with the story of one 26 year old Middle Eastern man s attempt to live the American Dream in New York City. Like the award-winning Netherland and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Kapitoil provides an absorbing look into American culture and New York finance from an outsider s perspective."
Synopsis
"A brilliant book. Karim Issar is one of the freshest, funniest heroes I've come across in a long time." -- Ben Fountain, bestselling author of Brief Encounters with Che Guevara
"An innovative and incisive meditation on the wages of corporate greed, the fundamental darkness of its vision lit by the author's great comic intelligence and wit." -- Kathryn Davis, author of The Thin Place, Hell: A Novel, and Versailles
With a fresh and singular voice, Teddy Wayne marks his literary debut with the story of one 26 year old Middle Eastern man's attempt to live the American Dream in New York City. Like the award-winning Netherland and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Kapitoil provides an absorbing look into American culture and New York finance from an outsider's perspective.
"Sometimes you do not truly observe something until you study it in reverse," writes Karim Issar upon arrival to New York City from Qatar in 1999. Fluent in numbers, logic, and business jargon yet often baffled by human connection, the young financial wizard soon creates a computer program named Kapitoil that predicts oil futures and reaps record profits for his company.
At first an introspective loner adrift in New York's social scenes, he anchors himself to his legendary boss Derek Schrub and Rebecca, a sensitive, disillusioned colleague who may understand him better than he does himself. Her influence, and his father's disapproval of Karim's Americanization, cause him to question the moral implications of Kapitoil, moving him toward a decision that will determine his future, his firm's, and to whom--and where--his loyalties lie.
Synopsis
"Sometimes you do not truly observe something until you study it in reverse," writes Karim Issar upon arrival to New York City from Qatar in 1999. Fluent in numbers, logic, and business jargon yet often baffled by human connection, the young financial wizard soon creates a computer program named Kapitoil that predicts oil futures and reaps record profits for his company.
At first an introspective loner adrift in New York's social scenes, he anchors himself to his legendary boss Derek Schrub and Rebecca, a sensitive, disillusioned colleague who may understand him better than he does himself. Her influence, and his father's disapproval of Karim's Americanization, cause him to question the moral implications of Kapitoil, moving him toward a decision that will determine his future, his firm's, and to whom—and where—his loyalties lie.
Synopsis
Sometimes you do not truly observe something until you study it in reverse, writes Karim Issar upon arrival to New York City from Qatar in 1999. Fluent in numbers, logic, and business jargon yet often baffled by human connection, the young financial wizard soon creates a computer program named Kapitoil that predicts oil futures and reaps record profits for his company.
At first an introspective loner adrift in New York's social scenes, he anchors himself to his legendary boss Derek Schrub and Rebecca, a sensitive, disillusioned colleague who may understand him better than he does himself. Her influence, and his father's disapproval of Karim's Americanization, cause him to question the moral implications of Kapitoil, moving him toward a decision that will determine his future, his firm's, and to whom--and where--his loyalties lie.
About the Author
Teddy Wayne is a graduate of Harvard and Washington University in St. Louis. He is the the recipient of an NEA Creative Writing Fellowship, and his work has appeared in The New Yorker, the New York Times, Vanity Fair, Time, Esquire, McSweeney's, and elsewhere. He lives in New York.