First (authorized) publication (in any language) of a wildly popular, anonymously written serial novel that started life as a blog during the US invasion of Iraq Populated by a cast of imagined con artists, holy fools, drag queens, and partisans--as well as some very factual politicians, priests, and generals--this novel started life as a pseudonymous blog written live by Shalash during and after the Second Iraq War.
From drunken monologues to prayers, from poetry to dirty jokes, from fairy tales and folk stories to pratfall humor, this novel delights readers and sheds light on Iraq in equal measure..
What could inspire such devotion? Signed Shalash the Iraqi, the posts proved to be nothing less than portions of a madcap serial novel thumbing its nose at Iraq\'s new normal.
Where neither computers nor printers were available, the posts were retold aloud, then passed along at second- and third-hand.
Individual entries were printed out and passed around for months, until the pages were nearly shredded.
In a country where electricity was only intermittently available, a series of blog posts began to appear at a soon-to-be-defunct website and took Baghdad by storm.
In the midst of this turmoil, a hero arose--or, rather, a jester.
Their country was free, but to many it seemed free mainly to become a mire of sectarian violence, corruption, confusion, and fear.
By the autumn of 2005, though the Saddam Hussein regime had reached its bloody end, ordinary Iraqis were seeing little improvement in their daily lives. invasion of Iraq began in the spring of 2003.
The second U.
S.
Never written to be published, all but lost save for disintegrating printouts treasured by its devotees, Shalash the Iraqi is here presented in its first authorized translation, with the blessing and commentary of Shalash himself.
First (authorized) publication (in any language) of a wildly popular, anonymously written serial novel that started life as a blog during the US invasion of Iraq Populated by a cast of imagined con artists, holy fools, drag queens, and partisans--as well as some very factual politicians, priests, and generals--this novel started life as a pseudonymous blog written live by Shalash during and after the Second Iraq War
