Softcore
Zolghadr paints a vivid picture of Tehran as a vibrant hub of cultural cross-currents; a place where art can thrive in the interstices of the society created by the mullahs of the Islamic Revolution. Unfortunately, his characters are one-dimensional and the author resembles his protagonist in being rather pretentious. The writing in Softcore is overblown and pompous; wordy where it should be pithy, cynical where it should be witty. Despite these failings, it is a rare and fascinating glimpse of an Iran that both Ahmadinejad and the Western media would rather we didn't see.
In Tehran, a cocktail bar, The Promessa, closed during the Islamic Revolution in 1978, is about to reopen as a fashionable venue for corporate hospitality and a setting where the movers and shakers of the cosmopolitan worlds of fashion and art can mix and mingle. Softcore, Tirdad Zolghadr's satirical début novel, is narrated by San, a young Iranian man tasked by his shadowy employers with finishing the project on time and under budget. San, an artist and a graduate of Yale University, fancies himself as something of an artistic wheeler-dealer and he employs his considerable ingenuity and guile to con work out of reluctant contractors, members of the militia and innocent passers-by.
San blunders into trouble – and the book stumbles into thriller territory – when he is arrested and jailed while photographing the Revolutionary Courthouse. Somewhat implausibly, he is blackmailed into becoming a spy and he enters a dangerous world of conspiracy, duplicity and political intrigue.
- Product information
- by Tirdad Zolghadr
- Star rating
- Product link
- http://www.telegrambooks.com
- Product number
- ISBN 9781846590207
- Publisher
- Telegram
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Voices from the margins:
Multimedia: video, podcasts, and more.
- Poetry Slam in Zimbabwe
- The House of Hunger poetry slam held in Zimbabwe in 2006, and organised by the Pamberi Trust, showcased young artists performing inspirational work on issues from corporate power to child soldiers. The video features four of the poets.
Published by Pambazuka News.
- Iranian women speak out
- 3 March 2007, London. Women's rights activists marched through the English capital last week to celebrate International Women's Day with a protest against the misogyny of the Islamic regime in Iran and the threat of invasion by the US. Hear the voices of Iranian feminists Azar and Leila Parnian and the sounds of the demonstration as it passed through the heart of the city. Click here to learn more about the campaign.
Produced by Heidi Bachram.
- Raised Voices audio:
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- Vinayan from India on agriculture
