99 Nights in Logar
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- USD 9.99
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- USD 9.99
Descripción editorial
Shortlisted for the DSC Prize 2019
Laconic, sharp and playful, 99 Nights in Logar is a stunning coming-of-age novel and a portrait of Afghanistan like no other, from an unforgettable new voice
Me and Gul and Zia and Dawoud out on the roads of Logar, together, for the first time, hoping to get Budabash back home before nightfall
It is 2005 in Logar, Afghanistan, and twelve-year-old Marwand has returned from America with his family for the summer. He loses the tip of his finger to the village dog, Budabash, who then escapes. Marwand's quest to find Budabash, over 99 nights, begins.
The resulting search is an exuberantly told adventure, one that takes Marwand and his cousins across Logar, through mazes, into floods and unexpected confrontations with American soldiers. Moving between celebrations and tragedies, Marwand must confront family secrets and his own identity as he returns to a home he's missed for six years. Deeply humorous and surprisingly tender, 99 Nights in Logar is a vibrant exploration of the power of stories – the ones we tell each other, and the ones we find ourselves in.
'Charming and unpredictable ... A narrative style fizzing with surprise' Observer
'A revelation, in every sense of the word' Justin Torres
'Ferocious, funny, rude, and freewheeling' Karan Mahajan
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Kochai's debut is an imaginative, enthralling, and lyrical exploration of coming home and coming-of-age set amid the political tensions of modern Afghanistan. Twelve-year-old Marwand returns to his family's village of Logar in 2005 and on the very first day, has the tip of his index finger bitten off by the compound's fearsome guard dog, Budabash. Marwand, with his cousin, two "little uncles," and younger brother, then vow "jihad against Budabash" as soon as they can find the runaway hound. The seemingly Huck Finn like tale, however, slowly evolves into a mesmerizing collection of stories, first narrated by Marwand (who recounts the vicious beating he gave an old mutt when the family first settled in Afghanistan in 1999) and set against the backdrop of a war-torn region. Through nightly conversations in the family compound, Marwand discovers that talk "always seemed to circle back to war." His 99-day-long search for the devil dog Budabash is filled with the stories of events both real and imagined: a family wedding, a mysterious illness that takes down the household, and finally the dreamlike clash between Marwand and Budabash. Kochai is a masterful storyteller, and will leave readers eager for the next tale.
