A teenage boy makes the mistake of falling in love with the much-protected daughter of his uncle, mischievously nicknamed after his hero Napoleon Bonaparte, the curmudgeonly self-appointed patriarch of a large and extended Iranian family in 1940s Tehran.

    Introduction by Dick Davis. Mazda Publishers, Costa Mesa, California, ۱۹۹۶

    Replete with potent symbolism and terrifying surrealistic imagery, Sadegh Hedayat's masterpice details a young man's despair after losing a mysterious lover. And as the author gradually drifts into frenzy and madness, the reader becomes caught in the sandstorm of Hedayat's bleak vision of the human condition. The Blind Owl, which has been translated into many foreign languages, has often been compared to the writing of Edgar Allan Poe.

    The Iranian best-selling author of eleven books, including Women Without Men, Shahrnush Parsipur now lives in exile in the United States.

    Mr.dolatabadi spent 15 years of his life to write this book.it's surprising that he wrote some little novels while writing this!a well-designed story with detailed information for each character either minor characters that let you good contact with them...

    During the few months he lives on the streets, Latif learns more life lessons than he would have done with many years of education. He experiences harsh living conditions, discrimination and humiliation. At this young age, he has a lot of confusion and cannot figure out what is wrong with a system that sanctions such a life for children. The experiences by five of his friends add more depth to the story. Latif’s fragile soul almost crashes witnessing elements of poverty and helplessness and observing that no matter how hard his father and many others try, they still remain poor and powerless.At the beginning the writer, Samad Behrangi, gives a detailed description of the material world surrounding his hero, the behaviors, conversations and conducts of all players, as he believes the material environment plays a major role in building up the characters of the people. But as soon as the story kicks off, it moves forward with a fast pace of the power and strength of life itself, taking the reader along with it.Readers meet people of different social strata, with voices of each adding depth and excellent character development. Latif spends a great deal of time outside a toy store wishing to have toys to play with and has a fascination about one particular camel who later becomes his mentor and takes him on an imaginary tour to see the other side of the society, gives him awareness as to how the system functions. The real awakening however, is more of a wake-up call. Latif goes beyond setting a goal for his own happiness and success, as he realizes that he must find a way to identify the causes of those social problems and find solutions for them.

    Désirée is enchanted by the young officer, and he asks her to marry him. But he must leave for Paris, where he meets his eventual wife Josephine. A heartbroken Désirée is unsure she'll ever find anyone again. A love story, but so much more, Désirée is the tale of a simple merchant's daughter who ends up with a kind of royalty she never expected: an unforgettable story just waiting to be reborn.

    Although Edmond is Armenian and Tahereh is the Muslim daughter of the school’s janitor, they remain blissfully unaware of the disquiet that ripples the surface calm of their close-knit community. Yet years later, when Edmond’s daughter chooses a Muslim to marry, tensions inevitably build. Unable to keep sidestepping the prejudices around him, Edmond is finally forced to make a choice, and one that will haunt him for years to come.From the critically acclaimed author of Things We Left Unsaid, 'The Space Between Us' is a poignant, wistful story about belonging and otherness, pride and prejudice, and the pressures and family expectations that inform our decisions. Brilliantly painting the landscape of intricate social conventions and private emotional conflict, Pirzad has produced an intimate portrait of ordinary Iranians living everyday lives.

    Its setting is the Persian Gulf Coast--an area geographically isolated from the rest of Iran and influenced by the customs, rituals, and superstitions of Black Africa, India, and Arabia.The episodes, occurring in and around a primitive village, are mostly symbolic and allegorical. In the harsh, cheerless environment of the Gulf, the sea, the sky, the sun and the moon appear ominous and full of foreboding. Elusive fears lurk in the villagers' paths, threatening their precarious peace and safety.In spite of its distant setting and allegorical mode, however, the novel deals with contemporary issues in Iranian politics. In particular, it prophetically warns its readers against sheepish submission to self-aggrandizing clergy (Section Two), as it cautions against blind surrender to the West (Section Six)--warnings that the people of Iran would have done well to heed.A detailed critical introduction and bibliography also place Sa'edi in his cultural/literary context, and offer readers leads to further reading and study of this seminal writer.

    The story centers on the life of the protagonist, Arthur Burton, as a member of the Youth movement, and his antagonist, Padre Montanelli. A thread of a tragic relationship between Arthur and his love Gemma simultaneously runs through the story. It is a story of faith, disillusionment, revolution, romance, and heroism.

    It's a black comedy set in San Francisco in 1942. The central character, C. Card, is no Sam Spade, but actually does do detective work of a sort, when he's not off dreaming of Babylon.

    A 1940s #1 Bestseller and a Historic Novel All-Time Favorite A historic novel all-time favorite, after its translation in English from Swedish, The Egyptian topped the bestseller charts in 1949 and the years following. The protagonist of the novel is the fictional character Sinuhe, the royal physician, who tells the story in exile after Akhenaten's fall and death. Apart from incidents in Egypt, the novel charts Sinuhe's travels in then Egyptian-dominated Syria, in Mitanni, Babylon, Minoan Crete, Mitanni, and among the Hittites.The main character of the novel is named after a character in an ancient Egyptian text commonly known as The Story of Sinuhe. The original story dates to a time long before that of Akhenaten: texts are known from as early as the 12th Dynasty.Much concerned about the historical accuracy of his detailed description of ancient Egyptian life forced the author to carry out considerable research into the subject. The result has been praised not only by readers but also by Egyptologists.Waltari had long been interested in Akhenaten and wrote a play about him which was staged in Helsinki in 1938. World War II provided the final impulse for exploring the subject in a novel which, although depicting events that took place over 3,300 years ago

    Now banned in Iran, this small masterpiece was eventually translated into several languages and introduces U.S. readers to the work of a brilliant Persian writer. With a tone that is stark, and bold, Women Without Men creates an evocative allegory of life for contemporary Iranian women. In the interwoven destinies of five women, simple situations such as walking down a road or leaving the house become, in the tumult of post-WWII Iran, horrific and defiant as women escape the narrow confines of family and society only to face daunting new challenges.Now in political exile, Shahrnush Parsipur lives in the Bay Area. She is the author of several short story collections including Touba and the Meaning of Night.

    Here, internationally respected author Abbas Milani gives us the definitive biography, more than ten years in the making, of the monarch who shaped Iran's modern age and with it the contemporary politics of the Middle East.The Shah's was a life filled with contradiction—as a social reformer he built schools, increased equality for women, and greatly reduced the power of the Shia clergy. He made Iran a global power, courting Western leaders from Churchill to Carter, and nationalized his country's many natural resources. But he was deeply conflicted and insecure in his powerful role. Intolerant of political dissent, he was eventually overthrown by the very people whose loyalty he so desperately sought. This comprehensive and gripping account shows us how Iran went from politically moderate monarchy to totalitarian Islamic republic. Milani reveals the complex and sweeping road that would bring the U.S. and Iran to where they are today.

    In this poignant, eye-opening and emotionally vivid novel, Mahbod Seraji lays bare the beauty and brutality of the centuries-old Persian culture, while reaffirming the human experiences we all share. In a middle-class neighborhood of Iran's sprawling capital city, 17-year-old Pasha Shahed spends the summer of 1973 on his rooftop with his best friend Ahmed, joking around one minute and asking burning questions about life the next. He also hides a secret love for his beautiful neighbor Zari, who has been betrothed since birth to another man. But the bliss of Pasha and Zari's stolen time together is shattered when Pasha unwittingly acts as a beacon for the Shah's secret police. The violent consequences awaken him to the reality of living under a powerful despot, and lead Zari to make a shocking choice...