Instant City: Life and Death in Karachi - Hardcover

Inskeep, Steve

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1594203156 ISBN 13: 9781594203152

Publisher: Penguin Pr, 2011

Synopsis

From the host of NPR's Morning Edition, a deeply reported portrait of Karachi, Pakistan, a city that illuminates the perils and possibilities of rapidly growing metropolises all around the world.

In recent decades, the world has seen an unprecedented shift of people from the countryside into cities. As Steve Inskeep so aptly puts it, we are now living in the age of the "instant city," when new megacities can emerge practically overnight, creating a host of unique pressures surrounding land use, energy, housing, and the environment. In his first book, the co-host of Morning Edition explores how this epic migration has transformed one of the world's most intriguing instant cities: Karachi, Pakistan.

Karachi has exploded from a colonial port town of 350,000 in 1941 to a sprawling metropolis of at least 13 million today. As the booming commercial center of Pakistan, Karachi is perhaps the largest city whose stability is a vital security concern of the United States, and yet it is a place that Americans have frequently misunderstood.

As Inskeep underscores, one of the great ironies of Karachi's history is that the decision to divide Pakistan and India along religious lines in 1947 only unleashed deeper divisions within the city-over religious sect, ethnic group, and political party. In Instant City, Inskeep investigates the 2009 bombing of a Shia religious procession that killed dozens of people and led to further acts of terrorism, including widespread arson at a popular market. As he discovers, the bombing is in many ways a microcosm of the numerous conflicts that divide Karachi, because people wondered if the perpetrators were motivated by religious fervor, political revenge, or simply a desire to make way for new real estate in the heart of the city. Despite the violence that frequently consumes Karachi, Inskeep finds remarkable signs of the city's tolerance, vitality, and thriving civil society-from a world-renowned ambulance service to a socially innovative project that helps residents of the vast squatter neighborhoods find their own solutions to sanitation, health care, and education.

Drawing on interviews with a broad cross section of Karachi residents, from ER doctors to architects to shopkeepers, Inskeep has created a vibrant and nuanced portrait of the forces competing to shape the future of one of the world's fastest growing cities.

About this title

Review:

"Informative, ambitious, chaotic, and sometimes glorious"--CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR

"Absorbing... reads like a sophisticated thriller as the author traces the movements of a number of people... he keeps his narrative well paced and full of small surprises. The book sparkles when Inskeep takes an unexpected turn and follows a stranger, or when he tracks down a new trend to illuminate a new facet of the city. The old man he encounters outside a liquor shop, the slum under construction, the upscale leisure park tell us more about the city than any bomb blast...Not many politicians read books in Karachi, but if they were to read one, let it be "Instant City".--PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"Steve Inskeep has written a magnificent, engrossing book about one of the world's most vivid and fascinating cities. His subject - urban Pakistan's struggles and zig-zagging achievements - is of deep and timely importance. His voice reflects the best traditions of politically alert travel writing, endowed with calm wisdom and curious empathy."--Steve Coll, author of GHOST WARS and THE BIN LADENS

"Urbanity is our certain and fixed future. How human beings live together--or fail to live together--compacted into great cities where a world's races, religions and ancestries share ever-tighter quarters--this is the fundamental question for the new century. With "Instant"" City", Steve Inskeep tells the story of a single violent and volatile day in the teeming streets of Karachi, Pakistan. In doing so, he reveals what is now at stake not just for Pakistan, or Asia, but for the human species. This is thoughtful, important work."

--David Simon, creator of HBO's "The Wire;" author of HOMICIDE

"It is an act of courage for Inskeep to write a book about Karachi based on interviews in that city. As the well-known host of NPR's "Morning Edition," he must have been aware of the possible dangers he faced... A tribute to Karachi is long overdue, and Inskeep provides one. "If this book succeeds at all," he writes, "it lets the city speak for itself and be judged on its own terms." For those exasperated and puzzled by Pakistan, "Instant City" is an excellent introduction." -- THE WASHINGTON POST
"Informative, ambitious, chaotic, and sometimes glorious" -- CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
"Absorbing... reads like a sophisticated thriller as the author traces the movements of a number of people... he keeps his narrative well paced and full of small surprises. The book sparkles when Inskeep takes an unexpected turn and follows a stranger, or when he tracks down a new trend to illuminate a new facet of the city. The old man he encounters outside a liquor shop, the slum under construction, the upscale leisure park tell us more about the city than any bomb blast...Not many politicians read books in Karachi, but if they were to read one, let it be "Instant City." -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Steve Inskeep has written a magnificent, engrossing book about one of the world's most vivid and fascinating cities. His subject - urban Pakistan's struggles and zig-zagging achievements - is of deep and timely importance. His voice reflects the best traditions of politically alert travel writing, endowed with calm wisdom and curious empathy." -- Steve Coll, author of GHOST WARS and THE BIN LADENS

"Urbanity is our certain and fixed future. How human beings live together--or fail to live together--compacted into great cities where a world's races, religions and ancestries share ever-tighter quarters--this is the fundamental question for the new century. With "Instant City," Steve Inskeep tells the story of a single violent and volatile day in the teeming streets of Karachi, Pakistan. In doing so, he reveals what is now at stake not just for Pakistan, or Asia, but for the human species. This is thoughtful, important work." -- David Simon, creator of HBO's "The Wire;" author of HOMICIDE

It is an act of courage for Inskeep to write a book about Karachi based on interviews in that city. As the well-known host of NPR s Morning Edition, he must have been aware of the possible dangers he faced A tribute to Karachi is long overdue, and Inskeep provides one. If this book succeeds at all, he writes, it lets the city speak for itself and be judged on its own terms. For those exasperated and puzzled by Pakistan, "Instant City" is an excellent introduction. THE WASHINGTON POST
Informative, ambitious, chaotic, and sometimes glorious CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
Absorbing reads like a sophisticated thriller as the author traces the movements of a number of people he keeps his narrative well paced and full of small surprises. The book sparkles when Inskeep takes an unexpected turn and follows a stranger, or when he tracks down a new trend to illuminate a new facet of the city. The old man he encounters outside a liquor shop, the slum under construction, the upscale leisure park tell us more about the city than any bomb blast Not many politicians read books in Karachi, but if they were to read one, let it be "Instant City." PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Steve Inskeep has written a magnificent, engrossing book about one of the world s most vivid and fascinating cities. His subject urban Pakistan s struggles and zig-zagging achievements is of deep and timely importance. His voice reflects the best traditions of politically alert travel writing, endowed with calm wisdom and curious empathy. Steve Coll, author of GHOST WARS and THE BIN LADENS

Urbanity is our certain and fixed future. How human beings live together or fail to live together compacted into great cities where a world s races, religions and ancestries share ever-tighter quarters this is the fundamental question for the new century. With "Instant City," Steve Inskeep tells the story of a single violent and volatile day in the teeming streets of Karachi, Pakistan. In doing so, he reveals what is now at stake not just for Pakistan, or Asia, but for the human species. This is thoughtful, important work. David Simon, creator of HBO s "The Wire;" author of HOMICIDE"

It is an act of courage for Inskeep to write a book about Karachi based on interviews in that city. As the well-known host of NPR s Morning Edition, he must have been aware of the possible dangers he faced A tribute to Karachi is long overdue, and Inskeep provides one. If this book succeeds at all, he writes, it lets the city speak for itself and be judged on its own terms. For those exasperated and puzzled by Pakistan, Instant City is an excellent introduction. THE WASHINGTON POST
Informative, ambitious, chaotic, and sometimes glorious CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
Absorbing reads like a sophisticated thriller as the author traces the movements of a number of people he keeps his narrative well paced and full of small surprises. The book sparkles when Inskeep takes an unexpected turn and follows a stranger, or when he tracks down a new trend to illuminate a new facet of the city. The old man he encounters outside a liquor shop, the slum under construction, the upscale leisure park tell us more about the city than any bomb blast Not many politicians read books in Karachi, but if they were to read one, let it be Instant City. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Steve Inskeep has written a magnificent, engrossing book about one of the world s most vivid and fascinating cities. His subject urban Pakistan s struggles and zig-zagging achievements is of deep and timely importance. His voice reflects the best traditions of politically alert travel writing, endowed with calm wisdom and curious empathy. Steve Coll, author of GHOST WARS and THE BIN LADENS

Urbanity is our certain and fixed future. How human beings live together or fail to live together compacted into great cities where a world s races, religions and ancestries share ever-tighter quarters this is the fundamental question for the new century. With Instant City, Steve Inskeep tells the story of a single violent and volatile day in the teeming streets of Karachi, Pakistan. In doing so, he reveals what is now at stake not just for Pakistan, or Asia, but for the human species. This is thoughtful, important work.

David Simon, creator of HBO s "The Wire;" author of HOMICIDE"

About the Author:

Steve Inskeep is a co-host of Morning Edition, the most widely heard radio news program in the United States. After the September 11 attacks, he covered the war in Afghanistan, the hunt for Al Qaeda suspects in Pakistan, and the war in Iraq. He won a National Headliner Award for investigating a military raid that went wrong in Afghanistan and the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for a series on conflict in Nigeria. This is his first book.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Pr
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1594203156
• ISBN 13: 9781594203152
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 284