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  • Theft (Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature): A Novel
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Abdulrazak Gurnah
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Theft (Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature): A Novel Kindle Edition

by Abdulrazak Gurnah (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 out of 5 stars 568 ratings
4.0 on Goodreads
1,869 ratings

鶹

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In his first new novel since winning the 2021 Nobel Prize, a master storyteller captures a time of dizzying global change.

At the turn of the twenty-first century, three young people come of age in Tanzania. Karim returns to his sleepy hometown after university with new swagger and ambition. Fauzia glimpses in him a chance at escape from a smothering upbringing. The two of them offer a haven to Badar, a poor boy still unsure if the future holds anything for him at all. As tourism, technology, and unexpected opportunities and perils reach their quiet corner of the world, bringing, each arrives at a different understanding of what it means to take your fate into your own hands.
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  1. Print length
    301 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Riverhead Books
  4. Accessibility
    Learn more
  5. Publication date
    March 18 2025
  6. File size
    3.6 MB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Product description

Review

Praise for Theft

"Beautifully done. . .By the time his story is complete — when the cord connecting everything is finally tied on the very last page — the reader can only rejoice at Gurnah’s skill."—Financial Times

“A tightly focused, beautifully controlled examination of friendship and betrayal.” —The Economist

“A vital addition to Gurnah’s remarkable body of work; a novel steeped in heartbreak and loss but one that ultimately refuses despair."—The Guardian

“Entirely engrossing. . .There are no single truths in this steady, mature novel, which may be why it feels so true as a whole." —Wall Street Journal

“Intimate. . .but the way Gurnah writes it, it all comes off as pretty heroic.”—NPR.org

“Compassionate, revelatory. . .a kind of argument about the value of true character, about worth calibrated outside the marketplace of money, status and drama. . .[Gurnah’s] sentences follow the riverbed of some ancient legend, even as he describes complicated modern lives.”— Washington Post

“A satisfying melodrama. . .[that] builds to an engrossing climax.” —The New York Times Book Review

"Marvellous - a book of incredible scope and unflinching intimacy that leaps fearlessly among its varied cast of characters. Absolutely devastating emotional precision. Abdulrazak Gurnah has written another classic."—V V Ganeshananthan

"THEFT is not just a book. It is an entire universe . . .In these pages, we begin to recognize the generosity that remains even in moments of pain and chaos. We understand the pockets of light that still exist in those most turbulent days. Gurnah has done it again."—Maaza Mengiste

“Beautifully rendered. . .a profound examination of lineages, legacies and lies.”—BookPage

“Theft takes many forms intimate and cultural, subtle and obvious in the newest web of interconnected lives masterfully spun by Nobel laureate Gurnah… Written with transfixing precision, wit, insight, and suspense, Theft is profoundly nuanced and revealing.”—Booklist, STARRED review

"Gurnah is a captivating, enthralling storyteller whose characters are vibrant and sympathetic. The pages fly by quickly in his wonderful new novel." —Library Journal, STARRED review

“Nobel Prize-winning novelist Gurnah delivers a story whose title reverberates throughout. . . No word is wasted. . .A tightly constructed family drama with surprising complications.” —Kirkus Reviews, STARRED review

“At once culturally specific and emotionally universal. . . Gurnah is at the top of his game.”—Publishers Weekly, STARRED review

"Nothing about human behaviour surprises Gurnah, and in reading his wise new novel with its gentle and beautiful ending, we the readers become a bit less judgemental, and more ready to understand what it means to struggle, to dare, to love – what it means to be human."—Elif Shafak, New Statesman

"Gurnah’s novels are written in an unshowy, elegant, often pleasingly old-fashioned prose that lends a certain beauty to stories that are sad and sometimes squalid."—Telegraph

"A quietly powerful demonstration of storytelling mastery, at once coming-of-age chamber piece and wide-angled post-colonial panorama . . .The conclusion – crackling with jeopardy, ultimately cathartic – moves all Theft’s patiently assembled plotlines into place for a riveting denouement that is both unguessable yet entirely in keeping."—Observer

"This Nobel winner’s new novel is a hit . . .Gurnah has a gentle and lyrical style that lets his tightly plotted tale unspool like a fable."—The London Standard

"Timely and captivating … Simple yet elegant."—Glamour --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

About the Author

Abdulrazak Gurnah is the 2021 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. He is the author of nine previous novels, including Paradise (shortlisted for the Booker Prize), By the Sea (longlisted for the Booker Prize and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize), and Desertion. Born and raised in Zanzibar, he is Professor Emeritus of English and Postcolonial Literatures at the University of Kent. He lives in Canterbury, England.
 --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0DBP8XLRM
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Riverhead Books
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 18 2025
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3.6 MB
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 301 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593852613
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • 鶹 Rank: #96,897 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 568 ratings

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Abdulrazak Gurnah

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
568 global ratings

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Top reviews from other countries

  • Cliente 鶹
    5.0 out of 5 stars Nice story
    Reviewed in Italy on July 17, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    It gives the feeling of what young people Life Is in Tanzania. Recoommended tò people Who have bene or Plan tò go there
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  • Kindle Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely charming
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 30, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Oh how I loved this book, I read it at one sitting. I wished I could have a picture of the characters…I don’t know enough about Zanzibar. But the small cast of interacting players was so delicate and touching, so compassionate and forgiving, I felt wretched about leaving them.
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  • Cynthia
    5.0 out of 5 stars another so very real story
    Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    and another chance to see how different the west is from not-the-west and yet people are the same. some of us learn to endure. others make themselves the center of everything.
    Report
  • Barbara Polanski
    5.0 out of 5 stars A refreshingly different and sensitive piece of writing
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 28, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Great book, it will also lead you to others by this author, recommended 😍
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  • Bridget
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great author .
    Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2025
    Verified Purchase
    Glad I found this author . A new favorite!!
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