ROOFTOPS OF TEHRAN: A NOVEL
Book ID/图书代码： 06820008B23952
English Summary/英文概要： Imagine that you are a young man of seventeen, standing at the edge of the rest of your life. You are intelligent, thoughtful, and everyone who knows you recognizes within you both wisdom and strength beyond your years. Your life so far fits like a second skin, and with your best friend at your side, you feel you can endure anything, including watching the girl of your dreams marry someone else. But there’s just one catch: you live in Iran, in a time of growing political turmoil and social unrest and the world you know is about to come crashing down around you.
Rooftops of Tehran opens in a middle-class neighborhood in Iran’s sprawling capital city. The rooftop of the narrator Pasha’s house – the tallest in their alley − is the ideal spot for sleeping on hot summer nights. It’s also the perfect location for stargazing, sneaking cigarettes, talking about American movies, and agonizing through the typical trials of being a seventeen year-old boy – like being in love. This is the preferred perch from which Pasha quietly watches his secret crush: Zari, his beautiful next door neighbor, whose hand has been promised since birth to his friend and mentor, nicknamed Doctor, a man adored and respected by the whole neighborhood.
As Pasha struggles to stay afloat in the turbulent sea of his unrequited love for Zari – and cope with the guilt he feels for loving her − a troubled, but mutual affection begins to bloom between them. But its progress is interrupted one night when Pasha’s presence on his rooftop acts as a beacon for the SAVAK, the Shah’s secret police, and leads them to Doctor’s door. Helpless, he watches as Doctor is brutalized and dragged away. Doctor is killed in prison soon after, and the shock of his senseless death ripples through the neighborhood. Consumed with remorse over his involvement in Doctor’s fate, our narrator is torn by his realization that now no one is standing in the way of his making his feelings for Zari known. But Doctor’s death has affected Zari more than anyone expected. In her anguish, she makes a devastating choice that will alter the lives of everyone in this close-knit community forever and none more so than that of her devoted next door neighbor.
Rooftops of Tehran paints a vivid portrait of growing up, discovering love, and awakening to the reality of life in a nation on the verge of revolution in the 1970s. With the candor only an Iranian in exile can offer, Mahbod Seraji’s narrative bares the enduring struggle between beauty and brutality infused into the centuries-old Persian culture while reaffirming the human experiences we all share: contentment, terror, love, helplessness, ferocity, and hope.
Chinese Summary/中文概要： 17歲夏天，與哥兒們快樂地度過，雖略帶單戀的苦澀，但仍是單純美好。但這一切卻在一夜之間都改變了，突然間看到大人世界的真實面。
1973年，夏天夜晚伊朗人們都喜歡在屋頂上睡覺，主角帕夏的家是那一帶最高視野最好，那年的夏天與他最要好的哥兒們一起在屋頂上做一些小壞事、偷偷談論著美國電影。原本平靜美好的夏天卻因為帕夏愛上了鄰居莎莉，對他的一生造成莫大影響。莎莉從小就與附近受人景仰的男子訂婚，大家都尊稱他為”醫生”。一晚，帕夏無意間帶領了國王的秘密警察到醫生家，造成了難以回復的遺憾…(VC)
Awards/获奖情况：Rights sold:
Persian translation rights to Alborz, Hebrew, Portuguese (Brazil only), Iceland: Tindur, Korea: Unhangnamu Publishing.
Audiobook edition to Recorded Books. Publication of the audiobook is planned to coincide with NAL’s release of the trade paperback in May 2009.
* Rooftops of Tehran will be translated by acclaimed translator, Maryam Bayat, who has translated such titles as the Joy Luck Club, Memoirs of a Geisha and Like Water for Chocolate into Persian.
Early Praise for Mahbod Seraji’s Stunning Debut Novel!
"Rooftops of Tehran is a richly rendered first novel about courage, sacrifice, and the bonds of friendship and love. In clear, vivid details, Mahbod Seraji opens the door to the fascinating world of Iran and provides a revealing glimpse into the life and customs of a country on the verge of a revolution. A captivating read." --- Gail Tsukiyama, author of The Street of a Thousand Blossoms and The Samurai’s Garden
“A stirring story about the loss of innocence, Rooftops of Tehran reveals a side of Iran understood by few Westerners. An ambitious first novel—full of humor, originality, and meaning. ”---John Shors, author of Beneath a Marble Sky
“In his haunting debut novel, Mahbod Seraji brings humor and humanity to a story of secret love in the brutal last days of the Shah. Set against the background of repression that launched the Iranian revolution, Pasha’s and Zari’s story shows that love and hope among the young thrive even in the most oppressive of times. Seraji is a striking new talent.”---Sandra Dallas, author of Tallgrass
About the Author/作者介绍： Born in Iran, Mahbod Seraji came to the United States at the age of 19 and settled in Iowa, where he earned his Doctorate degree from the University of Iowa in Instructional Design and Technology. He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay area. Though most of his family now lives in the United States and Canada, his father, a well known Iranian poet, still lives in Tehran.
Format:TRADE PAPERBACK
Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE(到期可授)
Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE
Sales in other countries/其他国家销售情况：
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