Blessed Curse, The
Checking Availibility...Description
Fearing loss of their sexual potency, a closed circle of men in power embarks on a fabulous journey involving erotica, magical herbs, spiritual pimps, a virgin prostitute and a divine bird--to find the ultimate aphrodisiac for their masculinity. Their search carries symbolic overtones of Pakistan's bizarre predicament and its nuclear ambitions in the global political arena. The Blessed Curse is a savage satire, blending the real and unreal; a topsy-turvy exposé of the country's rulers in their corruption of religion, politics, and economy. The novel's style carries the tradition of Punjabi humour, which is often dark, irreverent, and brutally frank.
About this Author
Sarmad Sehbai is a playwright and director whose work has appeared on television and in theatres throughout Pakistan. His tele-film Fankar Gali (Standby Street, 1991) and documentary Moghuls of the Road (1999) have been variously screened in London, Moscow, and Oslo. Bachon Ka Park (Children's Park, 1989), his play on political prisoners, won the Pakistan Television Best Play Award. His dramatic adaptations of Saadat Hassan Manto, the most celebrated short-story writer of Pakistan, have been televised on Pakistan Television and GEO TV. Three of his drama serials have been aired by leading channels of Pakistan (GEO TV 2007 and 2016) and Hum TV (2008). He has published two collections of plays and four collections of poetry in Urdu. He lives in Connecticut.
Reviews
"Sarmad has a prophet's arrogance, a pervert's gaze, and a poet's voice. The Blessed Curse says it all." --Muhammad Hanif
"A much anticipated work by one of Pakistan's most accomplished writers." --Mohsin Hamid, author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Exit West
"Experience Sarmad Sehbai's engrossing novel The Blessed Curse, where toxic masculinity and the desire for power intertwine in a tale of eroticism, alliances, and downfall. This story connects a Pakistani story with a global outlook by weaving it into a dystopian backdrop with plenty of dark Punjabi humour. A genre-bending, captivating read." --Claire Chambers, Professor of Global Literature, University of York
"Sarmad Sehbai is a literary maverick and a true outlaw . . . A master provocateur, his wildly impish sensibility and unwavering irreverence make him a modern inheritor of the great twentieth-century iconoclasts like Manto and Jean Genet." --Bilal Tanweer, author of The Scatter Here Is Too Great
"The Blessed Curse is a the first English-language novel by one of the living greats of Urdu poetry, Sarmad Sehbai, an uncompromising iconoclast, celebrant of corporeality, and champion of the native ethos and rhythms of the Punjab against the grid of Arabic, Persian, or English conventions, leaving us to wonder: what form will Sarmad's English-language novel take, and where will it take us? In his characteristically resonant voice, Sarmad draws on the cultural richness of Punjab--its traditions of storytelling, dark and bawdy humor, and masterful uses of irony--as well as his cosmopolitan sensibilities to address our contemporary global situation in an electrifying and well-crafted tale that will leave you laughing, crying, or both--and craving for more." --A Sean Pue, Professor of Hindi Language and South Asian Literature and Culture, Michigan State University
If the product is in stock at the store nearest you, we suggest you call ahead to have it set aside for you, or you may place an order online and choose in-store pickup.
