Details

ISBN-10: 0811224139
ISBN-13: 9780811224130
Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
Publish Date: 07/07/2015
Dimensions: 8.00" L, 5.40" W, 1.30" H

Mirages of the Mind

Translator: Matt Reeck
Translator: Aftab Ahmad

Paperback

Price: $19.95

Overview

Basharat and his family are Indian Muslims who have relocated to Pakistan, but who remain deeply steeped in the nostalgia of pre-Partition life in India. Through Mirages of the Mind’s absurd anecdotes and unforgettable biographical sketches–which hide the deeper unease and sorrow of the family’s journey from Kanpur to Karachi–Basharet emerges as a wise fool, and the host of this unique sketch comedy. From humorous scenes in colonial north India, to the heartbreak and homesickness of post-colonial life in Pakistan, Mirages of the Mind forms an authentic portrait of life among South Asia’s Urdu speakers, rendered beautifully into English by Matt Reeck and Aftab Ahmad.

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Reviews
Profoundly good-humored, genuinely wise, and very often laugh-out-loud funny....Yousufi has opinions on the moral conduct of dogs, the joys of ailing, flying kites from rooftops, and why Jewish prophets all rode donkeys. He brings to life a world where machine-guns are taken to weddings and where poor women dye their dung-covered floors to look like carpets. Whether he's talking about a stolen lumber shipment or a horse that bolts at the sight of funerals, Yousufi's witty storytelling is deftly captured in this English translation, which survives in spite of a desperate need for footnotes and a glossary, providing a lighthearted (if frequently unguided) plunge into one of the treasures of contemporary Pakistani culture.–Nick DiMartino "Shelf Awareness"
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Details

ISBN-10: 0811224139
ISBN-13: 9780811224130
Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
Publish Date: 07/07/2015
Dimensions: 8.00" L, 5.40" W, 1.30" H
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