A collection of classic, yet shockingly contemporary, short stories set
in the vibrant world of mid-century Bombay, from one of India's greatest
writers.
Arriving in 1930s Bombay, Saadat Hasan Manto discovered a city like no
other. A metropolis for all, and an exhilarating hub of license and
liberty, bursting with both creative energy and helpless despondency. A
journalist, screenwriter, and editor, Manto is best known as a master of
the short story, and Bombay was his lifelong muse. Vividly bringing to
life the city's seedy underbelly--the prostitutes, pimps, and gangsters
that filled its streets--as well as the aspiring writers and actors who
arrived looking for fame, here are all of Manto's Bombay-based stories,
together in English for the very first time. By turns humorous and
fantastical, Manto's tales are the provocative and unflinching lives of
those forgotten by humanity.