Mysterious Ways, with Kamila Shamsie

U2’s seminal album Achtung Baby was released during my senior year in high school. At the time, I was a huge fan and didn’t know what to make of this new release as it was so different from their earlier work. Once I heard the song Mysterious Ways, though, I really started to dig what I was hearing. I can honestly say I love that album even more today than I did back then. What’s the connection between U2’s Mysterious Ways and today’s guest Kamila Shamsie, well, you will just have to listen to find out!

Meet Kamila Shamsie:

Kamila Shamsie is the author of several novels, including Home Fire, which won the Women’s Prize for Fiction, was longlisted for the Booker Prize, and was a finalist for the International Dublin Literary Award, among other honors. She recently joined me to talk about her career and latest novel, Best of Friends.

How she pursued writing as a career even though it took five books before she could earn a living by being an author. Why she was inspired to write about childhood friendships in her latest novel, Best of Friends. How the America she envisioned while growing up in Pakistan did not live up to the expectations she had watching pirated videotapes as a child. Why would she tell her younger self to take more risks.