Out of Mesopotamia /
Abdoh, Salar,
Out of Mesopotamia / by Salar Abdoh. - 237 pages : maps ; 22 cm
Maps on endpapers.
"Saleh, the narrator of Out of Mesopotamia, is a middle-aged Iranian journalist who moonlights as a writer for one of Iran's most popular TV shows but cannot keep himself away from the front lines in neighboring Iraq and Syria. There, the fight against the Islamic State is a proxy war, an existential battle, a declaration of faith, and, for some, a passing weekend affair. After weeks spent dodging RPGs, witnessing acts of savagery and stupidity, Saleh returns to his civilian life of Tehran bookstore readings and trendy art openings and finds it to be an unbearably dislocating experience. Pursued by the woman who broke his heart, his official handler from state security (who wants him for questioning over a suspicious volume of Proust), and the screenwriters with whom he is supposed to be collaborating, Saleh has reason to flee again from everyday life--but not necessarily to discard it. Surrounded by men whose willingness to achieve martyrdom both fascinates and appalls him, Saleh struggles to make sense of himself and the turmoil that surrounds him."--Provided by publisher.
9781617758607 1617758604
2020935751
Journalists--Fiction.
Television writers--Fiction.
War and society--Fiction.
Syria--Social conditions--21st century--Fiction.
Iraq--Social conditions--21st century--Fiction.
Social problem fiction.
Psychological fiction.
War fiction.
Out of Mesopotamia / by Salar Abdoh. - 237 pages : maps ; 22 cm
Maps on endpapers.
"Saleh, the narrator of Out of Mesopotamia, is a middle-aged Iranian journalist who moonlights as a writer for one of Iran's most popular TV shows but cannot keep himself away from the front lines in neighboring Iraq and Syria. There, the fight against the Islamic State is a proxy war, an existential battle, a declaration of faith, and, for some, a passing weekend affair. After weeks spent dodging RPGs, witnessing acts of savagery and stupidity, Saleh returns to his civilian life of Tehran bookstore readings and trendy art openings and finds it to be an unbearably dislocating experience. Pursued by the woman who broke his heart, his official handler from state security (who wants him for questioning over a suspicious volume of Proust), and the screenwriters with whom he is supposed to be collaborating, Saleh has reason to flee again from everyday life--but not necessarily to discard it. Surrounded by men whose willingness to achieve martyrdom both fascinates and appalls him, Saleh struggles to make sense of himself and the turmoil that surrounds him."--Provided by publisher.
9781617758607 1617758604
2020935751
Journalists--Fiction.
Television writers--Fiction.
War and society--Fiction.
Syria--Social conditions--21st century--Fiction.
Iraq--Social conditions--21st century--Fiction.
Social problem fiction.
Psychological fiction.
War fiction.