Dagr, a former university professor, and Kinza, a small-time thug, are thrown together in the chaos of the Iraq war. As the US Marines bumble around destroying their country, the two friends do everything in their power to stay alive, an increasingly impossible task as Baghdad collapses around them. And then their luck begins to turn. They capture Captain Hamid, the star torturer of Saddam Hussein, who promises them a fortune in gold if they smuggle him out of Baghdad. Helped by a corrupt US Marine, Private Hoffman, they begin their escape when unexpectedly things get even crazily complicated…
A unique blend of humour, satire, fantasy, mystery and mythology that rattles along at the pace of a belt-fed burst of machinegun fire from an Apache gunship, Escape from Baghdad! is an exhilarating debut.
This book is out of print and will no longer be available in Aleph editions.
Saad Z. Hossain writes in a niche genre of fantasy, science fiction and black comedy which, on the balance of it, very few people actually want to read. Due to the stunning unpopularity of his writing, he has been forced to work in various industries. This includes drilling holes, making rope, throwing parties, operating an illegal sports book and failing to run a restaurant. Needless to say, working for a living is highly overrated. He hopes to retire, as soon as he can convince his sons to start working. They are currently five and two and show no signs of earning their keep. He lives in Dhaka, the most ridiculously populous city in the world, teaming with humans, wildlife, and djinns.
He was published in the Bangladeshi anthologies What the Ink? and Six Seasons Review. He has written articles and short stories for the Daily Star, New Age, and the Dhaka Tribune, the top English daily newspapers in Bangladesh, which has an enormous population of 160 million odd people. Yes, they’re all odd, we’ve checked.
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