SPEECH MARKS / The things they say about . . . Hanif Kureishi
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Your support makes all the difference.'My Beautiful Laundrette is startlingly fresh . . . directed by Stephen Frears from a witty script by Hanif Kureishi, the film catches you up . . . you feel that your blinders have been taken off.' 1001 Nights at The Movies.
'I have never seen a film quite like that before.' Michael Frayn.
'That's because I've never written one before.' Hanif Kureishi, 1985.
'For pointless sensationalism, sloppy attitudinising, and general disgustingness it deserves some sort of prize.' Prof Norman Stone on 'Sammy and Rosie Get Laid', Sunday Times, 10-1-88.
'The first half makes one of the best comic novels on race relations in this country that I've ever read. About the rest I'm not so sure.' Hermione Lee on 'The Buddha of Suburbia', Independent, 3-4-90.
'Kureishi's childhood pal . . . felt that they'd been 'too busy having a good time' to think about racism. 'Well, I thought about those things a lot,' protested Hanif. 'You never expressed it to me,' said his mate, sceptically.' Mark Steyn quotes from C4's Rear Window, Independent, 12-4-1990.
'He's a provocative little sod.' Stephen Frears, Observer, 25-11-90.
'I saw him once at a meeting, being attacked viciously by a Pakistani for selling out to the white man by showing Asians in a poor light . . . Hanif just sat there laughing at the man.' Matthew Evans, Observer, 17-11-91.
'Kureishi doesn't have Stephen Frears to hide behind any more . . . the film London Kills Me pushes none of the right buttons . . .' William Parante, Scotsman, 28-12-91.
'The four-part television adaptation of The Buddha of Suburbia reveals the book in all its mastery.' Max Davidson, Daily Telegraph, 4-11-93.
'No comment.' Jon Savage, currently collaborating with Kureishi on the 'Faber Book of Pop'.
Hanif Kureishi's 'The Buddha of Suburbia': tomorrow, 9.25pm BBC2
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