How to Fight Islamist Terror from the Missionary Position

Khair overstuffs his latest (like his previous effort, The Thing About Thugs), which, despite the author's ability to capture the specificity of place%E2%80%94in this case, %C3%85rhus, Denmark (coincidentally or not, the author's own place of residence). With chapters entitled "Prolegomenon to a Plot," Khair seems more determined to show off than to compel. The novel follows a nameless narrator%E2%80%94"a more or less Muslim-skinned" Pakistani literature professor who, after his divorce, shares a flat with his friend Ravi%E2%80%94and an Indian taxi driver named Karim, who set off a chain of "events that have exercised considerable media attention in Denmark." The nature of these events is not explicitly revealed until nearly the end of the book, but the reader has a very good sense of what's involved beforehand. On the plodding way to the unsurprising d%C3%A9nouement, there is an unconvincing love story, and much theorizing about the perception of Islam by the West, the limits of Danish tolerance, and, of course, terrorism. (Feb.)