<p>From Publishers Weekly      Gentle, fanciful Rokni is 23, scion of the proud Heshmat Nezamis in Iran under the Shah. His physician father, dying of cancer, upbraids Rokni for wasting time painting and not getting a government post; he orders him to find Zia, a brother seized years ago by the secret police. Modarressi's first English novel (two have been published in Persian) is surreal and labyrinthine, capturing the plight of a cultivated family between two eras. While spectral gunfire and tear-gas drift from alleys strewn with Pepsi bottles, Rokni's kinsfolk cite ancient proverbs as guides for living, and the physician pores over classical tomes of herbal medicine. Clan snapshots and photos of war atrocities depict the new order; the past is beautifully summoned by Rokni's trancelike visions of Homayundokht, his dead stepmother, gazing at the stars or in a jewelled mirror like a Persian miniature. Although the novel sometimes reads like an awkward translation, it affords a firsthand glimpse of contemporary Tehran that will fascinate most readers. Modarressi, who practices child psychiatry in Baltimore, is married to novelist Anne Tyler. February 7Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.      From Library Journal      The decline and death of an aging patriarch parallels the demise of Pahlavi Iran. At the request of his dying father, Rokni, the youngest son in a noble family, searches for his older brother, a revolutionary turned Islamic fundamentalist who disappeared ten years earlier. Rokni's quest takes him into mysteries of other lives, into the histories of those absent through death, madness, imprisonment, or exile. Yet the sense of mystery the novel arouses never quite satisfies; its histories are never quite recorded. Rokni, the narrator, is a painter, a "facemaker," but he ultimately leaves us with unfinished portraits. There are passionate people here, but their passions remain secrets only partially revealed. L.M. Lewis, Social Science Dept., Eastern Kentucky Univ., RichmondCopyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.</p>

The book of absent people

Modarressi, Taghi

DOUBLEDAY

<p>Professor Hadi Besharat loses his star pupil to a senseless death in the Iran-Iraq War and faces a crisis of faith, questioning his marriage, patriotism, and beliefs</p>

The Pilgrim's Rules of Etiquette: A Novel

Literature & Fiction

United States

On the streets of Tehran, Nuri Hushiar knows his blond hair and blue eyes attract attention. While he relishes the attention he cannot avoid the uneasy feeling of being out of place. This sense of being exceptional and estranged is the hallmark of his character and the focus of his struggle in Taghi Modarressi’s last stunning novel. Set around the time of the revolution, The Virgin of Solitude follows the parallel lives of a transplanted Austrian woman, who has made Iran her home, and her grandson, Nuri, who desperately misses his mother but hides his longing behind a veneer of teenage bravado. As the turmoil of the revolution envelops the country, grandmother and grandson witness the dissolution of social, class, and political order, while searching for a sense of belonging. Nasrin Rahimieh’s translation captures the tone and mood of the original, rendering both Modarressi’s subtle humor and assured prose with effortless precision.

The Virgin of Solitude: A Novel (Middle East Literature In Translation)

Literary

Syracuse University Press

The Virgin of Solitude centers on the life of a young man, Nuri Zargham, and his Austrian grandmother, who settled in Iran after her marriage to Nuri s grandfather. Following the loss of his father in an accident and his mother s departure for the United States, Nuri is confronted with a profound sense of loneliness. His grandmother, who is herself not unfamiliar with feelings of alienation, attempts to acquaint Nuri with his inner feelings. Nuri s emotional turmoil coincides with the beginnings of the revolution in Iran. The upheavals surrounding the revolution envelope Nuri s family and change the course of his life.

The Virgin of Solitude (Persian Edition)

Contemporary

Ibex Publishers, Inc.

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Books by Modarressi, Taghi

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Modarressi, Taghi. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The book of absent people

The Pilgrim's Rules of Etiquette: A Novel

The Virgin of Solitude: A Novel (Middle East Literature In Translation)

The Virgin of Solitude (Persian Edition)