false 2747995 27 30
"...charmingly romantic. Seraji captures the thoughts and emotions of a young boy and creates a moving portrait of the history and customs of the Persians and life in Iran."
--Publishers Weekly, March 2009

"Seraji’s wonderful coming-of-age story is at times funny and sweet as well as thought-provoking and heart-wrenching."
--Booklist April 2009

"Refreshingly filled with love rather than sex, this coming-of-age novel examines the human cost of political repression."
--Kirkus May 2009

“Repression and revolution provide the background for a deeply felt love story that gives outsiders a rare look inside modern Iran. This is a gripping account of a nation's violent lurch from one kind of tyranny to another, and also a delicately insightful portrait of how ordinary people react when their worlds suddenly collapse. At a time when we urgently need to know more about Iranians, Rooftops of Tehran introduces both the complexity of their political history and the richness of their emotional lives.”
--Stephen Kinzer, author of "All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror"

A captivating read."
-- Gail Tsukiyama, The Samurai's Garden

“A stirring story about the loss of innocence, Rooftops of Tehran reveals a side of Iran understood by few Westerners. An ambitious first novel—full of humor, originality, and meaning. ”
-- John Shors, Beneath a Marble Sky

“Rooftops of Tehran evoked many memories, along with tears and smiles of starry nights on rooftops, long-lost loves, and intense, passionate feelings of anger at the injustices and the absurd excesses of the Pahlavi regime.”
-- Nahid Mozaffari, Strange Times, My Dear: The PEN Anthology of Contemporary Iranian Literature

“In his haunting debut novel, Mahbod Seraji brings humor and humanity to a story of secret love in the brutal last days of the Shah. Set against the background of repression that launched the Iranian revolution, Pasha’s and Zari’s story shows that love and hope among the young thrive even in the most oppressive of times. Seraji is a striking new talent.”
-- Sandra Dallas, Tallgrass

“Rooftops of Tehran combines a coming of age love story with a compelling tale of struggle against dictatorship. You learn a lot about Iranian culture while coming to understand characters with universal appeal. This would make a great movie. Unfortunately, Iranian directors wouldn't be allowed to film it and American directors would move the story to New Jersey.
-- Reese Erlich, The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of US Policy and the Middle East Crisis

"What a profound pleasure to discover such solid storytelling and splendid prose in a debut novel. With the voice of a poet, Seraji has told a universal tale of love, loss, and ultimately of hope. It is this hope, most of all, that will linger long after the last page is turned. Thank God for authors like Seraji, who show us that no matter how distant apart our worlds may be, in the humanness of our hearts we are all united."
-– William Kent Krueger, Red Knife and the award-winning Cork O’Connor series

“Beyond being a bittersweet love story, Rooftops of Tehran is a story of community. No reader will be unfamiliar to the situation of the alley -- the neighborhood -- where these characters are united and bound together by history, ritual, grief, respect, and by the bond of protection that arises under the brutality of an oppressive government. Rooftops of Tehran takes an uncommon and refreshing view of Iran in modern American fiction…and also reveals how an American immigrant is born out of a young foreigner's desperation for self-de]]> male 1956/10/18 1628080 6001011 045122681X 9780451226815 114 http://www.goodreads.com/images/books/60/11/6001011-m-1255576125.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/books/60/11/6001011-s-1255576125.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6001011.Rooftops_of_Tehran_A_Novel 4.22 264
"Captivating... [Seraji's] novel is very cinematic, not only in how it portrays the close-knit neighborhood of the main characters... but also in the way the story builds momentum... at its core, the novel is a compelling coming-of-age story. "
—San Francisco Chronicle; May 2009


"...charmingly romantic. Seraji captures the thoughts and emotions of a young boy and creates a moving portrait of the history and customs of the Persians and life in Iran.
Publishers Weekly March 2009


"Seraji’s wonderful coming-of-age story is at times funny and sweet as well as thought-provoking and heart-wrenching."
Booklist April 2009

"Refreshingly filled with love rather than sex, this coming-of-age novel examines the human cost of political repression."
Kirkus May 2009

"A captivating read."
Gail Tsukiyama
The Samurai's Garden

“Repression and revolution provide the background for a deeply felt love story that gives outsiders a rare look inside modern Iran. This is a gripping account of a nation's violent lurch from one kind of tyranny to another, and also a delicately insightful portrait of how ordinary people react when their worlds suddenly collapse. At a time when we urgently need to know more about Iranians, Rooftops of Tehran introduces both the complexity of their political history and the richness of their emotional lives.”

--Stephen Kinzer, author of "All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror"


"Seraji is a striking new talent."
Sandra Dallas
Prayers for Sale

"An ambitious first novel—full of humor, originality, and meaning.”
John Shors
Beneath a Marble Sky

"Mr. Seraji has done a tremendous job in developing the characters in this novel....His descriptions of simple friendships of youth and pure unadulterated love are simply magnificent."
Nasim Bagheri
Iranian.com

"….a gripping tale of love that transcends boundaries and cultures."
Nahid Mozaffari,
Strange Times, My Dear

"Rooftops of Tehran combines a coming of age love story with a compelling tale of struggle against dictatorship. This will make a great movie."
Reese Erlich
The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of US Policy and the Middle East Crisis

"Rooftops of Tehran takes an uncommon and refreshing view of Iran in modern American fiction... and also reveals how an American immigrant is born out of a young foreigner's desperation for self-determination and social freedom."
Susanne Pari
The Fortune Catcher]]> 2747995 4.28 289 115 2009 6972313 9780451226 1 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6972313-rooftops-of-tehran 4.78 9 It is important to remember that these young people are not your typical seventeen year olds. They have a special quality which is called, "THAT." Pasha, in particular, will capture your heart. He is intelligent, sensitive, and honorable as he unwittingly goes about learning and teaching his readers the true meaning of friendship and family fealty.
This young man is a reader of the classics which are found in libraries and classrooms around the world.. As he reads, he thinks about life and his future. As he looks next door, he realizes that his present and future lie in Zari, the girl next door, who has been betrothed since birth to a young man who the neighborhood kids call Doctor. Pasha must, according to custom, keep his passion hidden. As fate would have it, and unintentional glance downward becomes the catalyst which tosses these three individuals into a whirlwind of deceit, guilt, passion, repentance, and hope.
You, as the reader, will not be able or willing to restrain yourself from following Pasha, Ahmed, Zari, and their other friends on a journey which will give you a first hand experience of some of the customs that are deeply rooted in their Middle Eastern Muslim culture.]]> 2747995 4.28 289 115 2009 6980470 1101045299 9781101045299 0 http://www.goodreads.com/images/books/69/470/6980470-m-1255576140.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/books/69/470/6980470-s-1255576140.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6980470-rooftops-of-tehran 5.00 7 2747995 4.28 289 115 2009 6980469 1602855803 9781602855809 0 http://www.goodreads.com/images/books/69/469/6980469-m-1255576138.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/books/69/469/6980469-s-1255576138.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6980469-rooftops-of-tehran 4.86 7 2747995 4.28 289 115 2009