A Case of Exploding Mangoes
Published on 4. June 2009
Book
Paperback/Softback
304 pages
978-0-09-951674-3 (ISBN)
Description
**LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE**
'Exuberant and satirical: this is an angry comedy about Zia's brutal legacy to Pakistan' Observer
There is an old saying that when lovers fall out, a plane goes down. This is the story of one such plane.
Why did a Hercules C130, the world's sturdiest plane, carrying Pakistan's military dictator General Zia ul Haq, go down on 17 August, 1988? Was it because of:
1.Mechanical failure
2.Human error
3.The CIA's impatience
4.A blind woman's curse
5.Generals not happy with their pension plans
6.The mango season
Or could it be your narrator, Ali Shigri?
A Case of Exploding Mangoes is sharp, dark, inventive and utterly gripping.
'Exuberant and satirical: this is an angry comedy about Zia's brutal legacy to Pakistan' Observer
There is an old saying that when lovers fall out, a plane goes down. This is the story of one such plane.
Why did a Hercules C130, the world's sturdiest plane, carrying Pakistan's military dictator General Zia ul Haq, go down on 17 August, 1988? Was it because of:
1.Mechanical failure
2.Human error
3.The CIA's impatience
4.A blind woman's curse
5.Generals not happy with their pension plans
6.The mango season
Or could it be your narrator, Ali Shigri?
A Case of Exploding Mangoes is sharp, dark, inventive and utterly gripping.
Reviews / Votes
Zesty, highly inventive...Hanif is a gifted writer...His explosive finale is brilliantly constructed * Daily Mail * Exuberant and satirical: this is an angry comedy about Zia's brutal legacy to Pakistan * Observer * Witty, elegaic and deliciously anarchic -- John Le Carre A Pakistan not reducible to generals, jets and jihadisa...a debut novel shaped as much by the subcontinents fascination with history and historical figures as by political thrillers in the tradition of Forsyth and Le Carre.... Along the way there is plenty of humour and slapstick... Cadet life is entertainingly evoked, overflowing with japes, jerkoffs, hashish highs and liquored lows... The most unexpected aspect of Mangoes is also its most compelling - the wryly told story of a love affair between two cadets * Guardian * Entertaining.... darkly comic.... There are sharply observed sketches of toadying ministers, mindlessly efficient security chiefs, filthy prison cells, sex-mad Arab sheikhs and erudite communist prisoners...as a piece of political satire, A Case of Exploding Mangoes deserves a high mark * Independent * Unputdownable and darkly hilarious. Mohammed Hanif is a brave, gifted writer -- Mohsin Hamid, author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist Grimly, intelligently comic as if written by an Asian Joseph Heller * Daily Telegraph * If this rich stew of disparate ingredients puts you in mind of Salman Rushdie, you wouldn't be far from the truth. His work, along with that of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Joseph Heller, is a low-key but persistent influence * Sunday Times * An exciting, accomplished new literary voice * Irish Times * A very funny satire-cum-thriller -- Sally Cousins * Sunday Telegraph Seven *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 130 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
220 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-09-951674-3 (9780099516743)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Mohammed Hanif
A Case of Exploding Mangoes
E-Book
09/2010
1st Edition
Vintage Digital
€8.99
Available for download
Person
Mohammed Hanif was born in Okara, Pakistan, in 1965. He graduated from Pakistan Air Force Academy as Pilot Officer, but subsequently left to pursue a career in journalism. He has written plays for the stage and BBC radio, and his film The Long Night has been shown at film festivals around the world. His first novel, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Novel in 2008.