"[Manto's] empathy and narrative economy invite comparisons with
Chekhov. These readable, idiomatic translations have all the agile
swiftness and understated poignancy that parallel suggests. ---Boyd
Tonkin, Wall Street Journal
Stories from the undisputed master of the modern Indian short story
encircling the marginalized, forgotten lives of Bombay, set against the
backdrop of the India-Pakistan Partition (Salman Rushdie)
By far the most comprehensive collection of stories by this 20th Century
master available in English.
A master of the short story, Saadat Hasan Manto opens a window onto
Bombay's demimonde--its prostitutes, rickshaw drivers, artists, and
strays as well probing the pain and bewilderment of the Hindus, Muslims,
and Sikhs ripped apart by the India-Pakistan Partition.
Manto is best known for his dry-eyed examination of the violence,
horrors, and reverberations from the Partition. From a stray dog caught
in the crossfire at the fresh border of India and Pakistan, to friendly
neighbors turned enemy soldiers pausing for tea together in a momentary
cease fire--Manto shines incandescent light into hidden corners with an
unflinching gaze, and a fierce humanism.
With a foreword by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Vijay Seshadri, these
stories are essential reading for our current moment where divisiveness
is erupting into violence in so many parts of the world.
