Kapitoil - Softcover

Teddy Wayne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0715638947 ISBN 13: 9780715638941

Publisher: Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd, 2010

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.

About this title

Review:

'The first funny novel about oil' -- GQ. ''Kapitoil' is one of those uncommon novels that really is novel. Though the storytelling is conventional, it is satisfyingly so, and the book's estimable young narrator is a human type whom nobody until Wayne was ever inspired to write about' --Jonathan Franzen

'Teddy 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 beter than Mohsin Hamid or Joseph O'Neill, the best authors of this genre until now... Wayne has completely foreseen and transcended the exhaustion of the 9/11 genre' -- The Boston Globe. 'Brilliant... a major literary talent' --Houston Chronicle

'This wonderfully assured debut novel, at once poignant, insightful, and funny, details Karim's passage through a new world of corporate sharks, Manhattan clubs, museums, Bob Dylan lyrics, and personal growth. Karim's English, always grammatically correct but stilted with terms from science, mathematics, computing, and business, is a delight. Best of all, however, is simply being inside Karim's head as he ponders Jackson Pollock's paintings, baseball, programming, and the mysteries of love and life in the US' -- Booklist (starred review). 'With 'Kapitoil', Teddy Wayne invents - and perfects! - the pre-9/11 novel' --Vanity Fair

From the Back Cover:

"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 this edition

• Publisher: Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0715638947
• ISBN 13: 9780715638941
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304