Why I Write: Essays By Saadat Hasan Manto: 1 - Softcover

Aakar Patel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 938403018X ISBN 13: 9789384030186

Publisher: Westland, 2014

Synopsis

One of the greatest raconteurs of the 20th century, Saadat Hasan Manto declares that he was forced to write when his wife routinely demanded that he put bread on the table for the family. He doesn t attribute any genius to his skills as a writer and convinces his readers that the stories flowed even as he minded his daughters or tossed a salad. Equally, Manto treats his tryst with Bollywood with disdain and unmasks the cardboard lives of tinsel town when a horse is painted to double up for a zebra or multiple fans rotate to create a deluge. Two of Manto s favourite and recurring themes Women and Partition find special mention. For the first time ever, this unique collection of non-fiction writing from the subcontinent s greatest writer, translated by well known author and journalist, Aakar Patel showcases Saadat Hasan Manto s brilliance while dealing with life s most mundane things graveyards, bumming cigarettes, a film crew with motley characters from mythology and a sharp dissection of what ails the subcontinent even after 6 decades Hindi or Urdu, vile politicians and the hopelessness of living under the shadow of fear.

About this title

About the Author

Aakar Patel has worked in the textile industry and in journalism. He has edited newspapers in English and Gujarati for the Dainik Bhaskar Group and for the Mid Day Group, where he also oversaw the Urdu daily, Inquilab. He writes columns for the Mint Lounge and Express Tribune, published from Pakistan.

Edition details

• Publisher: Westland
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 938403018X
• ISBN 13: 9789384030186
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 196