Description
Stories from the undisputed master of the modern Indian short story encircling the marginalized, forgotten lives of Bombay, set against the backdrop of the India-Pakistan Partition (Salman Rushdie) By far the most comprehensive collection of stories by this 20th Century master available in English. A master of the short story, Saadat Hasan Manto opens a window onto Bombay's demimonde--its prostitutes, rickshaw drivers, artists, and strays as well probing the pain and bewilderment of the Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs ripped apart by the India-Pakistan Partition. Manto is best known for his dry-eyed examination of the violence, horrors, and reverberations from the Partition. From a stray dog caught in the crossfire at the fresh border of India and Pakistan, to friendly neighbors turned enemy soldiers pausing for tea together in a momentary cease fire--Manto shines incandescent light into hidden corners with an unflinching gaze, and a fierce humanism. With a foreword by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Vijay Seshadri, these stories are essential reading for our current moment where divisiveness is erupting into violence in so many parts of the world.
Author: Saadat Hasan Manto
Publisher: Archipelago Books
Published: 09/14/2021
Pages: 418
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.14lbs
Size: 7.50h x 6.00w x 1.30d
ISBN13: 9781953861009
ISBN10: 1953861008
BISAC Categories:
- Fiction | Short Stories (single author)
- Fiction | Biographical
- Fiction | Cultural Heritage
About the Author
In his short career, Saadat Hasan Manto produced a powerful and original body of work, writing over 20 collections of short stories, five radio dramas, three essay collections, one novel, and a handful of film scripts. A Muslim living in Bombay at the time of the India-Pakistan Partition, Manto was forced to migrate with his family to Lahore, where he wrote the stories conjuring the inhumanity of partition for which he is best known. In his later years, Manto became increasingly alcoholic and died at the age of 42. He was posthumously awarded the prestigious Nishan-e-Imtiaz award by the Government of Pakistan in 2012.
Khalid Hasan, journalist, writer and translator, was born in Srinagar, Kashmir. He has translated most of Saadat Hasan Manto's work. He has also translated the stories of Ghulam Abbas and the poetry of Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Khalid Hasan's own publications include Scorecard, Give Us Back Our Onions, The Umpire Strikes Back, Private View, and Rearview Mirror. He lives in Washington and is US correspondent of Daily Times and the Friday Times, Lahore.
Born in India in 1939, Muhammad Umar Memon was emeritus professor of Urdu, Persian and Islamic Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Memon translated widely from English and Arabic into Urdu and from Urdu into English. His translations from Urdu include The Essence of Camphor and Snake Catcher, both by Naiyer Masud, and several other collections of short stories, including The Tale of the Old Fisherman and The Colour of Nothingness. He was the editor of the Pakistan Writers Series (OUP) and also editor of the Annual of Urdu Studies.