A 20-something Pakistani living in New York and one of the most engaging protagonists to come along in a while. After moving from Karachi to attend NYU, Chuck readily adapts to the customs of his new home—especially those involving alcohol, cocaine and skirt chasing—but he's not the average drunk college kid: he and his friends, AC and Jimbo, are like a Pakistani-American version of the Three Musketeers—in their own eyes, boulevardiers, raconteurs, renaissance men.

I found the first half of this book quite a drag. Nothing much happens; the main characters drift aimlessly through life with a large dose of sex, drugs and alcohol. I can't see this appealing to South Asian readers; I wonder if it works with the American readers?

The plot's pace picks up in the second half, but the core issue is a stale one: the suspicion with which Muslims were treated in America in the aftermath of 9/11. 'Home Boy' may have been a good enough read eight years ago, but it brings nothing new in 2010.

Additionally, the gratuitous use of uncommon words (esp. in the first third), some small factual errors (e.g. the slogan of the tooth powder) and some shoddy proofreading all serve to distract from the narrative. ( )

This is an appealing, smart, funny and sad book, told from the viewpoint of a Pakistani immigrant in New York City. The book follows three young (mid twenties) Pakistani friends, Chuck, AC and Jimbo, who embraced Metropolis for everything they could while indulging in the joys of girlfriends, as well as a little drugs and not-so-little alcohol. The story is told through the eyes of Chuck, a student on a work visa who turned banker, turned cabbie.

The three friends’ world turned upside-down after the events of 9/11/2001 when the city that they thought embraced them, turned hostile. At this time (about 100 pages into the novel) the book becomes very energetic and fast paced as it turns from a story filled with self absorption hedonism into a story about the coming of age in an unfriendly world.

This is one of those books which are disturbing and delightful at the same time, a view point on the events of 9/11 from the perspective of a young man who has been accused of being someone he’s not simply out of the national paranoia that gripped the nation.
The book is filled with prose, funny, energetic and filled with local flavors. ( )