Today, Orhan Pamuk is "is something of a rock star and political lightning rod who has stirred criticism from both secular and Islamic detractors, not only for his writing but also for his outspoken opinions," and a much-mentioned Nobel Prize candidate. (QPB recently offered his brilliant memoirs Istanbul: Memories and the City) He burst onto the international literary scene in 1990 with Black Book, recently re-released and reviewed  in the San Francisco Chronicle..