Richa Reads

Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar, is about an author’s struggle with being a Muslim in America. The rich narrative, part biopic, part fictional in the book offered via his visits to Pakistan, mother’s deep attachment to her birth country and father being a super successful doctor treating Trump, has the qualities of a racy thriller, as well as deep nuanced thought. The combination of both, is simply heady! I thoroughly enjoyed the banter between the father and the son in the book. His father, a famous doctor when he makes the progression from being a researcher to private practice, after a few successful years, the practice goes belly up. He gets wrapped up in a legal battle. The entry of capitalism in the medical space had led to the private practices like his, being bought up by MBA led firms. These firms, insist on maximizing the number of patients that the doctor sees, thereby reducing the doctor patient time together. It’s a good example of when capitalism runs a practice, and it...