Saad Z Hossain is the author of two novels, Escape from Baghdad! and Djinn City. He lives in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Praise for Escape from Baghdad!
"Saad Hossain's perplexingly weird debut novel, Escape From
Baghdad!, captures the pure insanity of the Iraq War. At the same
time, it's not a war novel. Instead, it's a skillfully constructed
literary IED that brings together the sharpest aspects from
multiple genres. It's a Tarantino-esque Heart of Darkness set in
war-torn Iraq, filled with absurdism and dark humor, a mash-up of
satirical Joseph Heller-style comedy and sci-fi fantasy with a
gratuitous mixture of good old-fashioned ultra-violence." Colby
Buzzell, VICE
"Set in the aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq, Bangladeshi
author Saad Hossain’s debut novel is a riot of mordant humour and
gonzo storytelling
The Gulf war may just have found its Catch-22."
James Lovegrove, The Financial Times
"Saad Z. Hossain’s Escape From Baghdad! may be the hippest,
weirdest, most creative and visionary book yet to emerge from the
full-on debacle that was W’s still-simmering Iraq war. Hossain's
unique blend of satire, mythology and speculative fiction makes
Escape a hold-onto-your-hat tilt-a-whirl joy to read. And, quite
possibly, a future classic in its own right." Jerry Stahl, author
of Permanent Midnight, Happy Mutant Baby Pills, I, Fatty
One of Library Journal's Key Spring Titles for 2015
"Hossain daringly shows us that war isn’t just hell but absolutely
insane." Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal
"Saad Hossain has given us a hilarious and searing indictment of
the project we euphemistically call 'nation-building.' With nods to
Catch-22, Frankenstein, The Island of Doctor Moreau and the Golem
myth, Escape from Baghdad! weaves fantasy, absurdity and adventure
into a moving counter-narrative to the myth of the just war."
Daniel José Older, NPR
"It’s a marvelous mix of genres, blending the visceral atmosphere
of a war movie with the casual nihilism of Catch-22 or the original
M.A.S.H. complete with an Indiana Jonesstyle treasure quest
A
gonzo adventure novel that shreds the conventional wisdom that pulp
can be pigeonholed." Kirkus Reviews
"Escape from Baghdad! is a virtuoso performance, both utterly
heartbreaking and riotously, laugh-out-loud funny... I wanted to
stand up and applaud when it was finished, but I didn't want it to
finish. I could not recommend it enough." Lavie Tidhar, World
Fantasy Award winning author of Osama.
"Saad Z Hossain’s upcoming Escape from Baghdad! (The Unnamed Press,
March 2015) is the sci-fi and fantasy writer’s debut novel,
characterized as an ArabianNightsesque thriller. Having set the
book in modern-day Iraq, Hossain started off his research reading
blogs written by American soldiers in Iraq, and then braided
together Norse and Greek mythologies." Ploughshares
"Saad Hossain is the author of Escape from Baghdad!, an engrossing
cross between Zero Dark Thirty and Raiders of the Lost Ark that
takes a sobering look at America's troubled legacy in Iraq."
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