Selected Works of Abdullah the Cossack

The Selected Works of Abdullah the Cossack is a novel by Pakistani author Mohammed Hanif that follows the life of a septuagenarian bachelor named Abdullah, who awakes on his seventieth birthday and considers launching himself over the balcony. He is then surprised with an invitation for a night out from his old friend Felix Pinto, and saddles him with a ward, Bosco. Along the way, Abdullah attracts the romantic attentions of Jugnu, an enigmatic siren with links to the mob, and his brothers plot to evict him from the family estate.

Format: Hardback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 04 April 2019
Publisher: Grove Press / Atlantic Monthly Press

Through the use of a roman-à-clef, the author is able to create compelling caricatures that take on a life of their own. The Selected Works of Abdullah the Cossack is an anarchic, erudite, and rollicking story set against a kaleidoscopic portrait of one of the world's most vibrant cities. Abdullah, a bachelor and scion of a once prominent family, awakes on the morning of his seventieth birthday and considers launching himself over the balcony. Having spent years attempting to compile a mythopoetic legacy of his beloved Karachi, the cosmopolitan heart of Pakistan, Abdullah has lost his zeal. A surprise invitation for a night out from his old friend Felix Pinto snaps Abdullah out of his funk, and saddles him with a ward—Pinto's adolescent grandson Bosco. As Abdullah plays mentor to Bosco, he also attracts the romantic attentions of Jugnu, an enigmatic siren with links to the mob. All the while, Abdullah's brothers plot to evict him from the family estate. Now, he must try to save his home—or face losing his last connection to his familial past.

Weight: 550g
Dimension: 167 x 241 x 26 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781611856309
Edition number: Main