My Uncle Napoleon
By Dick Davis (Translator); Azar Nafisi (Introduction by); Iraj Pezeshkzad
(Modern Library, Paperback, 9780812974430, 528pp.)
Publication Date: April 11, 2006
Categories: General
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The most beloved Iranian novel of the twentieth century
“God forbid, I’ve fallen in love with Layli!” So begins the farce of our narrator’s life, one spent in a large extended Iranian family lorded over by the blustering, paranoid patriarch, Dear Uncle Napoleon. When Uncle Napoleon’s least-favorite nephew falls for his daughter, Layli, family fortunes are reversed, feuds fired up and resolved, and assignations attempted and thwarted.
First published in Iran in the 1970s and adapted into a hugely successful television series, this beloved novel is now “Suggested Reading” in Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran. My Uncle Napoleon is a timeless and universal satire of first love and family intrigue.
“A gift both to readers fascinated by other cultures and to lovers of fiction for fiction’s sake.”
–The Washington Post Book World
Readers can gain a more balanced impression of Iran from this novel, which looks at life from the kind of humorous perspective few Westerners may associate with the current regime in that country.”
–The Christian Science Monitor
“A masterpiece of contemporary world fiction.”
–Baltimore Sun
“Howlingly funny . . . [a] tender, salacious and magical Iranian import.”
–Cleveland Plain Dealer
“A giddily uproarious mixture of farce and slapstick.”
–The Atlantic
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