Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disgraced | 2013 | Ayad Akhtar | Buy |
| 2 | The Who & The What | 2014 | Ayad Akhtar | Buy |
| 3 | The Invisible Hand | 2015 | Ayad Akhtar | Buy |
| 4 | Junk | 2017 | Ayad Akhtar | Buy |
Ayad Akhtar’s four published plays span identity politics, religion, economics, and cultural conflict. Disgraced (2013) became one of the most-performed plays in America after winning the Pulitzer, depicting a dinner party where liberal veneer gives way to tribal instincts. The play runs just 90 minutes but generated enormous debate.
The Who & The What (2014) focuses on a Pakistani-American woman’s novel about the Prophet Muhammad. The Invisible Hand (2015) puts a Wall Street banker in a hostage situation where the captors want him to make them money. Junk (2017) recreates the leveraged buyout culture of 1980s Wall Street. Together, the four plays map Akhtar’s interests in money, identity, and the gaps between who people say they are and who they actually are.