STEVEINSKEEP 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; the Robert F. Kennedy journalism award for "The Price of African Oil," about conflict in Nigeria; and shared an Alfred I. Dupont award for The York Project, a groundbreaking series of conversations on race in America. This is his first book.
“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
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