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The Resource Out of Mesopotamia, Salar Abdoh

Out of Mesopotamia, Salar Abdoh

Creator
Author
Contributor
Summary
Informed by firsthand experience on the battlefronts of Iraq and Syria, Abdoh captures the horror, confusion, and absurdity of combat from a seldom-glimpsed perspective that expands our understanding of the war novel. "A masterful, stylish novel told from the perspective of a disaffected Iranian writer who is drawn to the militias fighting in Syria and Iraq. Abdoh beautifully illustrates the paradoxes of war in the field and on the home front, alternating moments of brutality and comradeship and showing war's pointless heroisms, its random accidents, its absurdities, and its ongoing human costs. This is at once a probing look at the disaster in Syria and Iraq, and an affectionate yet gimlet-eyed view of masculinity, art, and cultural politics." --The Millions, One of the Most-Anticipated Books of 2020 "A superb pressure cooker of a novel...Abdoh brilliantly fuses the confusions of combat and modern life to produce an unforgettable novel. This is one of the best works of literature on the war against ISIS to date." --Publishers Weekly, STARRED review "{A} searing, poetic, and morally authentic account of contemporary conflict. Abdoh eloquently depicts the absurdity of war, employing darkly comic interludes while also showing the devastating brutality...A devastatingly profound catch-22 of modern conflict." --Booklist "Out of Mesopotamia...draws on Abdoh's experience reporting on the war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria in this tale of an Iranian television writer who crosses the border to get a first-hand look at the front lines." --Publishers Weekly, Included in Fall 2020 Adult Announcements: Literary Fiction 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 civilian life in Tehran but finds it to be an unbearably dislocating experience. Pursued by his official handler from state security, opportunistic colleagues, and the woman who broke his heart, Saleh has reason to again flee from everyday life. Surrounded by men whose willingness to achieve martyrdom both fascinates and appalls him, Saleh struggles to make sense of himself and the turmoil in his midst. An unprecedented glimpse into "endless war" from a Middle Eastern perspective, Out of Mesopotamia follows in the tradition of the Western canon of martial writers--from Hemingway and Orwell to Tim O'Brien and Philip Caputo--but then subverts and expands upon the genre before completely blowing it apart. Drawing from his firsthand experience of being embedded with Shia militias on the ground in Iraq and Syria, Abdoh gives agency to the voiceless while offering a meditation on war that is moving, humane, darkly funny, and resonantly true
Language
eng
Work
Instance
Label
Out of Mesopotamia
Title
Out of Mesopotamia
Statement of responsibility
Salar Abdoh
Creator
Contributor
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
Informed by firsthand experience on the battlefronts of Iraq and Syria, Abdoh captures the horror, confusion, and absurdity of combat from a seldom-glimpsed perspective that expands our understanding of the war novel. "A masterful, stylish novel told from the perspective of a disaffected Iranian writer who is drawn to the militias fighting in Syria and Iraq. Abdoh beautifully illustrates the paradoxes of war in the field and on the home front, alternating moments of brutality and comradeship and showing war's pointless heroisms, its random accidents, its absurdities, and its ongoing human costs. This is at once a probing look at the disaster in Syria and Iraq, and an affectionate yet gimlet-eyed view of masculinity, art, and cultural politics." --The Millions, One of the Most-Anticipated Books of 2020 "A superb pressure cooker of a novel...Abdoh brilliantly fuses the confusions of combat and modern life to produce an unforgettable novel. This is one of the best works of literature on the war against ISIS to date." --Publishers Weekly, STARRED review "{A} searing, poetic, and morally authentic account of contemporary conflict. Abdoh eloquently depicts the absurdity of war, employing darkly comic interludes while also showing the devastating brutality...A devastatingly profound catch-22 of modern conflict." --Booklist "Out of Mesopotamia...draws on Abdoh's experience reporting on the war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria in this tale of an Iranian television writer who crosses the border to get a first-hand look at the front lines." --Publishers Weekly, Included in Fall 2020 Adult Announcements: Literary Fiction 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 civilian life in Tehran but finds it to be an unbearably dislocating experience. Pursued by his official handler from state security, opportunistic colleagues, and the woman who broke his heart, Saleh has reason to again flee from everyday life. Surrounded by men whose willingness to achieve martyrdom both fascinates and appalls him, Saleh struggles to make sense of himself and the turmoil in his midst. An unprecedented glimpse into "endless war" from a Middle Eastern perspective, Out of Mesopotamia follows in the tradition of the Western canon of martial writers--from Hemingway and Orwell to Tim O'Brien and Philip Caputo--but then subverts and expands upon the genre before completely blowing it apart. Drawing from his firsthand experience of being embedded with Shia militias on the ground in Iraq and Syria, Abdoh gives agency to the voiceless while offering a meditation on war that is moving, humane, darkly funny, and resonantly true
Cataloging source
Midwest
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Abdoh, Salar
Dewey number
813/.6
Index
no index present
Literary form
fiction
Nature of contents
dictionaries
http://library.link/vocab/relatedWorkOrContributorName
hoopla digital
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Journalists
  • Television writers
  • War and society
  • Syria
  • Iraq
Target audience
adult
Label
Out of Mesopotamia, Salar Abdoh
Link
https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/13546934?utm_source=MARC
Instantiates
Publication
Distribution
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Color
multicolored
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Dimensions
unknown
Extent
1 online resource
Form of item
  • online
  • electronic
Governing access note
Digital content provided by hoopla
Isbn
9781617758911
Isbn Type
(electronic bk.)
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • c
http://library.link/vocab/ext/overdrive/overdriveId
13546934
Publisher number
MWT13546934
Specific material designation
remote
System control number
(MWT)MWT13546934
System details
Mode of access: World Wide Web
Label
Out of Mesopotamia, Salar Abdoh
Link
https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/13546934?utm_source=MARC
Publication
Distribution
Carrier category
online resource
Carrier category code
  • cr
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Color
multicolored
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Dimensions
unknown
Extent
1 online resource
Form of item
  • online
  • electronic
Governing access note
Digital content provided by hoopla
Isbn
9781617758911
Isbn Type
(electronic bk.)
Media category
computer
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • c
http://library.link/vocab/ext/overdrive/overdriveId
13546934
Publisher number
MWT13546934
Specific material designation
remote
System control number
(MWT)MWT13546934
System details
Mode of access: World Wide Web

Subject

Genre

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