Frankenstein in Baghdad: SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE 2018

  WINNER OF THE INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR ARABIC FICTION WINNER OF THE KITSCHIES GOLDEN TENTACLE AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARD 2019  A SATIRICAL REIMAGINING OF MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN SET IN MODERN-DAY BAGHDAD, BRILLIANTLY CAPTURING THE HORROR OF A CITY AT WAR From the rubble-strewn streets of US-occupied Baghdad, Hadi collects body parts from the dead, which he stitches together to form a corpse. He claims he does it to force the government to recognise the parts as real people, and give them a proper burial. But when the corpse goes missing, a wave of eerie murders sweeps across the city, and reports stream in of a horrendous-looking, flesh-eating monster that cannot be killed. At first it's the guilty he attacks, but soon it's anyone who crosses his path... 'A remarkable book' Observer * 'Brave and ingenious.' The New York Times  

About the Author :
Ahmed Saadawi is an Iraqi novelist, poet, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. In 2010 he was selected for Beirut39, as one of the thirty-nine best Arab authors under the age of forty, and in 2014 he became the first Iraqi to win the prestigious International Prize for Arabic Fiction. This prize was awarded to Frankenstein in Baghdad, which also won Le Grand Prix de L’Imaginaire in 2017. He lives in Baghdad. Jonathan Wright studied Arabic at Oxford University. He is the translator of Hassan Blasim's The Corpse Exhibition, which won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in 2014. He lives in London.

Review :
‘Strange, violent and wickedly funny... A remarkable achievement, and one that, regrettably, is unlikely ever to lose its urgent relevancy.’ Guardian ‘[A] biting satire of Iraqi life and sectarian disputes.’ Financial Times ‘[Saadawi is] Baghdad’s new literary star.’ New York Times ‘Helped by Jonathan Wright’s elegant and witty translation, which reaches for and attains bracing pathos, Saadawi’s novel mixes a range of characters and their voices to surprising, even jolting effect...a remarkable book.’ Observer ‘A darkly delightful novel… Detective story and satire as well as gothic horror, Frankenstein in Baghdad provides a tragicomic take on a society afflicted by fear, and a parable concerning responsibility and justice.’ New Statesman 'Expertly told... A significant addition to contemporary Arabic fiction.' Judges’ citation, International Prize for Arabic Fiction ‘Frankenstein in Baghdad is more than just a black comedy. It’s as much of a crossbreed as its ghoulish hero – part thriller, part horror, part social commentary.’ Financial Times 'A nightmarish, but horridly hilarious, tale… Sinister, satirical, ferociously comic but oddly moving.’ Spectator ‘Complex but very readable and darkly humorous; it has well-observed characters, whose back stories reflect the wider context.’ Times Literary Supplement 'Suffused with macabre humor, this novel captures the bizarre reality of life that is contemporary Baghdad... An important piece of political literature to emerge out of Iraq.' The Week 'A dark and fresh examination of the violence in Iraq.' Metro