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The Laughter

A white male college professor develops a dangerous obsession with his new Pakistani colleague in this modern, iconoclastic novel

PRAISE

The Laughter was longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize!

NPR lists The Laughter on its 2023 Books We Love list!

Included in the New Yorker’s “Best Books We’ve Read in 2023 So Far”

"To say The Laughter is just a campus novel is to vastly undersell it; it’s also the story of America’s changing cultural landscape and the major political and philosophical shifts needed to uplift and protect the marginalized. This is a smart and hilarious book not just for anyone who wants to laugh at the absurdity of academia, but for anyone who wants to become a better person by doing it."
— New York Times Book Review

“Jha impressively avoids the trap of preachiness and moralizing that stories of identity politics on campus tend to fall into; rather, hers is a subtle and nuanced look at the subject. The novel plants seeds that turn out to be red herrings, building layer upon layer of assumptions—about campus culture, identity politics, religion, East versus West, racism, and terrorism. . . . A powerful and darkly funny campus novel with an unexpected narrative perspective.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Sonora Jha expertly inhabits the perspective of a man so terrified of the old world slipping away, he can’t see the ground shifting beneath his feet. A deliciously sharp, mercilessly perceptive exploration of power, The Laughter explores how ‘otherness’ is both fetishized and demonized, and what it means to love something—a person, a country—that does not love you back."
—Celeste Ng, New York Times-bestselling author of Our Missing Hearts

“Sonora Jha’s The Laughter takes the old suffocating male narcissist of Coetzee’s Disgrace and Nabokov’s Lolita and gives him new, previously unexplored dimension with a modern dissection of the Whiteness at his core. Dr. Oliver Harding is the best type of narrator—one whose rich character makes his profound flaws fascinating on the page, and author Jha’s inspired prose channels him as if possessed.”
—Mat Johnson, author of Pym and Invisible Things 

“[This] bitingly satirical tale of a maddeningly clever yet frustratingly myopic protagonist is a gem. . . . Examining old prejudices, new fixations, and the sting of unrequited love, Jha offers a complete triumph.”
—Booklist (starred review)

“The Laughter is a brilliant, dangerous novel. What Sonora Jha has done in this razorblade-tense story is create one of the most infuriating, compelling, and complex characters I’ve read in a long time, a man so at war with himself he threatens to come apart at the seams. Jha is an expert chronicler of the way civility and privilege can often mask such immense, ruinous rage, and what begins as a tale of a professor’s infatuation with his colleague soon spirals into something far more sinister, a cascade of individual and institutional malice.”
— Omar El Akkad, author of American War and What Strange Paradise

“Lush, chilling, and admirably complex, The Laughter is wonderful: A book full of sly wisdom, cutting insight, and heart-pounding suspense”
—Julia May Jonas, author of Vladimir

“A masterfully told, thrilling investigation of privilege, heritage and exoticization set against the backdrop of the American college campus. . . . Deeply complex and meaningful yet still an enthralling read, The Laughter is an ambitious novel that explores American social dynamics while never being preachy or overbearing. . . . It’s a must-read for those seeking to understand today and dream of a better tomorrow.”
— BookPage (starred review)

“A tense and propulsive tale of race and power … Jha’s gripping passion play will shock readers.”
—Publishers Weekly

DESCRIPTION

An aging white male college professor develops a dangerous obsession with his new Pakistani colleague in this modern, iconoclastic novel that is as powerful, riveting, and disturbing as Lolita, Disgrace, and A Little Life.

Dr. Oliver Harding, a tenured professor of English, is long settled into the routines of a divorced, aging academic. But his quiet, staid life is upended by his new colleague, Ruhaba Khan, a dynamic Pakistani Muslim law professor

Ruhaba unexpectedly ignites Oliver’s long-dormant passions, a secret desire that quickly tips towards obsession after her teenaged nephew, Adil Alam, arrives from France to stay with her. Drawn to them, Oliver tries to reconcile his discomfort with the worlds from which they come, and to quiet his sense of dismay at the encroaching change they represent—both in background and in Ruhaba’s spirited engagement with the student movements on campus.

After protests break out demanding diversity across the university, Oliver finds himself and his beliefs under fire, even as his past reveals a picture more complicated than it seems. As Ruhaba seems attainable yet not, and as the women of his past taunt his memory, Oliver reacts in ways shocking and devastating.

An explosive, tense, and illuminating work of fiction, The Laughter is a fascinating portrait of privilege, radicalization, class, and modern academia that forces us to confront the assumptions we make, as both readers and as citizens.

how to raise a feminist son:

MOTHERHOOD, MASCULINITY, AND THE MAKING OF MY FAMILY

PRAISE

"Jha issues an urgent, fervent plea to raise feminist sons in this trenchant guide. At times touching and always impassioned, this is an excellent resource for like-minded parents."
—Publishers Weekly

“In How to Raise a Feminist Son, Jha weaves her own fascinating, sometimes heartbreaking, and always beautiful story of raising her own feminist son with careful research, insightful interviews, and helpful advice. There were countless times in reading this book where I found myself reevaluating things I had told my own sons and setting new goals for things I would teach them in the future. True love sees you for who you are, and true love holds you to account when you fall short of who you can be, because true love knows what you are capable of. This book is a true love letter, not only to Jha’s own son but also to all of our sons and to the parents–especially mothers–who raise them.”
—Ijeoma Oluo, author of So You Want to Talk About Race and Mediocre
 
 “You can’t punish your way to a more feminist world, I’ve long believed; you have to create, encourage, invent that world, especially in how you raise kids, but that’s only one reason Sonora Jha’s book is exhilarating and inspiring. It’s a beautiful hybrid of memoir, manifesto, instruction manual, and rumination on the power of story and possibilities of family. I can’t wait to put it in the hands of everyone raising kids or thinking about how we do it and how it could be different.” 
—Rebecca Solnit, author of The Mother of All Questions
 
“Essential reading for any parent, loved one, or teacher seeking to raise feminist boys in these times. A strong case for how teaching our boys to show vulnerability, empathy, and remorse can be the path to freedom. Sonora Jha asks, ‘Can boys be feminists?’ The answer is a resounding YES.”
—V (formerly Eve Ensler), author of The Vagina Monologues and The Apology
 
“Combining the insight of memoir with sound advice, How to Raise a Feminist Son is a glorious map to a better future.”
—Mira Jacob, author of Good Talk
  
“Sonora Jha takes on the hardest questions and the most-fraught conversations with nuance and grace. Here, when addressing the deepest anxieties of parents raising boys committed to a fair and just society, her insights are invaluable.” 
—Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her
 
“We need to grow better men. In this fierce, elegant, necessary book, Sonora Jha tells us how she did just that. Weaving together the personal and the political, Jha fearlessly examines our current moment and how it affects the young men among us. How to Raise A Feminist Son scorches, illuminates, and above all challenges us to do better.”
—Claire Dederer, author of Love and Trouble and Poser

DESCRIPTION

A love story that will resonate with feminists who hope to change the world, one kind boy at a time

From teaching consent to counteracting problematic messages from the media, well-meaning family, and the culture at large, we have big work to do when it comes to our boys. This empowering book offers much-needed insight and actionable advice. It’s also a beautifully written and deeply personal story of struggling, failing, and eventually succeeding at raising a feminist son.
Informed by the author’s work as a professor of journalism specializing in social justice movements and social media, as well as by conversations with psychologists, experts, and other parents and boys, this book follows one mother’s journey to raise a feminist son as a single immigrant woman of color in America. Through stories from her own life and wide-ranging research, Sonora Jha shows us all how to be better feminists and better teachers of the next generation of men in this electrifying tour de force.
Includes chapter takeaways, and an annotated bibliography of reading and watching recommendations for adults and children.