In 2019, famed journalist and writer Aatish Taseer was thrown out of India. Soon after he wrote a cover article for Time calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi the country’s “divider in chief,” New Delhi decided to revoke his residency.
That sent Aatish on a journey across the world–to places like Turkey, Spain, Mexico and Sri Lanka–to explore identity, both his own and of different nations. The result is his latest book, A Return to Self: Excursions in Exile (Catapult: 2025).
Aatish is the author of the memoir Stranger to History: A Son’s Journey Through Islamic Lands (Canongate: 2009) and the acclaimed novels The Way Things Were (Pan Macmillan: 2014), a finalist for the 2016 Jan Michalski Prize, The Temple-Goers (Viking: 2010), short-listed for the Costa First Novel Award, and Noon (Farrar, Straus and Giroux: 2011); and the memoir and travelog The Twice-Born (Hurst: 2019).
You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at<a href="https://asianreviewofbooks.com/"> The Asian Review of Books</a>, including its review of <a href="https://asianreviewofbooks.com/a-return-to-self-excursions-in-exile-by-aatish-taseer/">A Return to Self</a>. Follow on Twitter at<a href="https://twitter.com/BookReviewsAsia"> @BookReviewsAsia</a>.
Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at<a href="https://twitter.com/nickrigordon?lang=en"> @nickrigordon</a>. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit <a href="https://megaphone.fm/adchoices">megaphone.fm/adchoices</a>Support our show by becoming a premium member! <a href="https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/asian-review">https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/asian-review</a>

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