SOURCE: “Loves and Zealots,” in Washington Post Book World, November 12, 1995, p. 8.

In the following review, Drabelle offers a positive assessment of The Black Album, although he notes weakness in its “creaky structure.”

The title of Hanif Kureishi’s speedy second novel, which takes place in London just after the fatwa has come down against Salman Rushdie (1989), refers to a work by the Artist Still Happily Known as Prince. Shahid Hasan, the Pakistani-English protagonist, is a Prince fan, dope fan, sex fan, anything but college fan, though his primary occupation is supposed to be studying.

Contrary to stereotype, Shahid comes from money. When his brother, Chili, married the redoubtable Zulma, “their wedding video, longer than The Godfather. (both parts), became essential viewing all over Karachi and even in Peshawar.” Contemptuous of the decrepit state of English manhood, Chili keeps muttering about “the brown man’s burden.” But Chili is...