A Case Of Exploding Mangoes, Mohammed hanif debut novel is Teasing, provocative, and funny. The novel imagines a connection between the still mysterious plane crash in which the then Pakistani dictator General Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq died and the events of 9/11. Intrigue and subterfuge combine with misstep and luck in this darkly comic book about love, betrayal, tyranny, family--and a world that unexpectedly resembles our own.
The story revolves around Ali Shigri a Pakistan Air Force pilot and Silent Drill Commander of Fury Squadron. His father, one of Zia's colonels, has committed suicide under suspicious circumstances. Ali is determined to understand who or what pushed his father to take such a drastic step and avenge his death. What he quickly discovers is a snarl of events: Americans in Pakistan, Soviets in Afghanistan, dollars in every hand. But Ali remains patient, determined, a touch world-weary, and unsurprised at finding Zia at every turn. He mounts an elaborate plot for revenge with an ever-changing crew that includes his silk underwear and cologne wearing roommate; a hash-smoking American lieutenant; the chief of Pakistan's secret police, who mistakenly believes he's in cahoots with the CIA; a blind woman imprisoned for fornication; Uncle Starchy, the squadron's laundryman; and, not least of all, a mango-besotted crow. General Zia a devout Muslim "and" leering admirer of non-Muslim cleavage--begins every day by asking his chief of security: "Who's trying to kill me?" and the answer lies in a conspiracy trying to happen . . .
A Case Of Exploding Mangoes, a novel of the first order, provocative, exuberant, wickedly clever and that reimagines the conspiracies and coincidences the above above event.
The story revolves around Ali Shigri a Pakistan Air Force pilot and Silent Drill Commander of Fury Squadron. His father, one of Zia's colonels, has committed suicide under suspicious circumstances. Ali is determined to understand who or what pushed his father to take such a drastic step and avenge his death. What he quickly discovers is a snarl of events: Americans in Pakistan, Soviets in Afghanistan, dollars in every hand. But Ali remains patient, determined, a touch world-weary, and unsurprised at finding Zia at every turn. He mounts an elaborate plot for revenge with an ever-changing crew that includes his silk underwear and cologne wearing roommate; a hash-smoking American lieutenant; the chief of Pakistan's secret police, who mistakenly believes he's in cahoots with the CIA; a blind woman imprisoned for fornication; Uncle Starchy, the squadron's laundryman; and, not least of all, a mango-besotted crow. General Zia a devout Muslim "and" leering admirer of non-Muslim cleavage--begins every day by asking his chief of security: "Who's trying to kill me?" and the answer lies in a conspiracy trying to happen . . .
A Case Of Exploding Mangoes, a novel of the first order, provocative, exuberant, wickedly clever and that reimagines the conspiracies and coincidences the above above event.
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