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Tehran Noir
Vali Khalili's story "Fear Is the Best Keeper of Secrets" has been named a finalist for the Private Eye Writers of America Shamus Award for Best P.I. Short Story!
Named a Notable Translation of 2014 by World Literature Today
"This entry in Akashic's noir series takes the gritty sensibilities born out of American film and fiction to Tehran."
-- Publishers Weekly
"A tour de force not to be missed."
-- World Literature Today
" Tehran Noir is not only a solid crime collection, but an illuminating look into day-to-day life in the Middle East, with religious and political implications galore, as well as racial tensions bubbling just beneath the surface...The stories in Tehran Noir aren't always easy to read, but they are engaging in the extreme."
-- San Francisco Book Review
"The 15 stories in this collection also come from a stellar and diverse cast of Iranian writers....A collection such as this is able to bring Iran to life for the foreign reader in a way other fiction and non-fiction cannot....Superb."
-- PopMatters
" Tehran Noir is a worthy addition to Akashic's collection...bloody and beautiful."
-- Digging Through the Fat
" Tehran Noir will prove fascinating reading to anyone with an interest in Iran. It will be equally intriguing for a reader who is simply curious about a theocratic society in the 21st century, or what became of a vibrant, cosmopolitan society after the fall of its dynastic ruler."
-- Gumshoe Review
Launched with the summer '04 award-winning best seller Brooklyn Noir , Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies. Each book is comprised of all-new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.
Includes brand-new stories Gina B. Nahai, Salar Abdoh, Lily Farhadpour, Azardokht Bahrami, Yourik Karim-Masihi, Vali Khalili, Farhaad Heidari Gooran, Aida Moradi Ahani, Mahsa Mohebali, Majed Neisi, Danial Haghighi, Javad Afhami, Sima Saeedi, Mahak Taheri, and Hossein Abkenar.
From the Introduction by Salar
"There is something of both the absolutely spectacular and positively disgraceful about Tehran. But most writers around the world are inclined to think that their own sprawling metropolis is the capital of every imaginable vice and crime, of impossible love and tenderness and cruelty and malice in measures that seldom exist anywhere else. For me, Tehran's case is no different--except that there really is a difference here. The city may be a hothouse of decadence, a den of inequity, all that. But it still exists under the watchful eye of a very unique entity, the Islamic Republic. The city enforces its own morality police, and there are regular public hangings of drug dealers and thieves. Because of this, there is a raging sense of a split personality about the place--the imposed propriety of the mosque rubbing against the hidden (and more often not so hidden) rhythms of the real city...
There is always an element of the end of the world about this place. A feeling of being once removed from the edge of the precipice. Elsewhere I have called it the "Seismic City"--the seismic sanctuary. All of this will end one day. Yes. And maybe sooner than later. And when it does, by God, we will miss it."
Named a Notable Translation of 2014 by World Literature Today
"This entry in Akashic's noir series takes the gritty sensibilities born out of American film and fiction to Tehran."
-- Publishers Weekly
"A tour de force not to be missed."
-- World Literature Today
" Tehran Noir is not only a solid crime collection, but an illuminating look into day-to-day life in the Middle East, with religious and political implications galore, as well as racial tensions bubbling just beneath the surface...The stories in Tehran Noir aren't always easy to read, but they are engaging in the extreme."
-- San Francisco Book Review
"The 15 stories in this collection also come from a stellar and diverse cast of Iranian writers....A collection such as this is able to bring Iran to life for the foreign reader in a way other fiction and non-fiction cannot....Superb."
-- PopMatters
" Tehran Noir is a worthy addition to Akashic's collection...bloody and beautiful."
-- Digging Through the Fat
" Tehran Noir will prove fascinating reading to anyone with an interest in Iran. It will be equally intriguing for a reader who is simply curious about a theocratic society in the 21st century, or what became of a vibrant, cosmopolitan society after the fall of its dynastic ruler."
-- Gumshoe Review
Launched with the summer '04 award-winning best seller Brooklyn Noir , Akashic Books continues its groundbreaking series of original noir anthologies. Each book is comprised of all-new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the city of the book.
Includes brand-new stories Gina B. Nahai, Salar Abdoh, Lily Farhadpour, Azardokht Bahrami, Yourik Karim-Masihi, Vali Khalili, Farhaad Heidari Gooran, Aida Moradi Ahani, Mahsa Mohebali, Majed Neisi, Danial Haghighi, Javad Afhami, Sima Saeedi, Mahak Taheri, and Hossein Abkenar.
From the Introduction by Salar
"There is something of both the absolutely spectacular and positively disgraceful about Tehran. But most writers around the world are inclined to think that their own sprawling metropolis is the capital of every imaginable vice and crime, of impossible love and tenderness and cruelty and malice in measures that seldom exist anywhere else. For me, Tehran's case is no different--except that there really is a difference here. The city may be a hothouse of decadence, a den of inequity, all that. But it still exists under the watchful eye of a very unique entity, the Islamic Republic. The city enforces its own morality police, and there are regular public hangings of drug dealers and thieves. Because of this, there is a raging sense of a split personality about the place--the imposed propriety of the mosque rubbing against the hidden (and more often not so hidden) rhythms of the real city...
There is always an element of the end of the world about this place. A feeling of being once removed from the edge of the precipice. Elsewhere I have called it the "Seismic City"--the seismic sanctuary. All of this will end one day. Yes. And maybe sooner than later. And when it does, by God, we will miss it."
336 pages, Paperback
First published September 15, 2014
34 people are currently reading
526 people want to read
About the author
Salar Abdoh
13 books84 followersSalar Abdoh is an author and writer. His latest novel is A Nearby Country Called Love (Viking Penguin, 2023). His book, Out of Mesopotamia (Akashic, 2020), has been hailed as “One of a handful of great modern war novels,” and was a NYTimes Editors’ Choice, and also selected as a Best Book of the year across several platforms, including Publishers Weekly. He is also the author of Tehran At Twilight, Opium, and The Poet Game, and editor and translator of the celebrated crime collection, Tehran Noir.
Mostly dividing his time between New York City and Tehran, Iran, Abdoh regularly publishes personal essays and short stories, plus numerous translations of other authors that appear in journals across the world.
A professor at the City University of New York’s City College campus in Harlem, he conducts workshops in the English Department’s MFA program and also directs undergraduate creative writing.
Mostly dividing his time between New York City and Tehran, Iran, Abdoh regularly publishes personal essays and short stories, plus numerous translations of other authors that appear in journals across the world.
A professor at the City University of New York’s City College campus in Harlem, he conducts workshops in the English Department’s MFA program and also directs undergraduate creative writing.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
October 30, 2014
The Akashic Books series of noir anthologies is a favorite of mine, and Tehran Noir has done nothing to sully its reputation. In fact this particular anthology is perhaps one of the best collections of short stories I have read in a long time. When you’re grabbed by an Introduction to a book, how can you not be pleased with what follows? The first story in the book by Daniel Haghighi, “The Fat, Fat Story of the Fat City,” surprised me with its gritty, yet humorous nature. I wondered what was in store for me. Well, exactly how the editor Salar Abdoh described Tehran, “….a juxtaposition of ugliness and beauty that breaks the heart.” I read the terrifying “A Woman’s Geography is Sacred,” the chilling “My Own Marble Jesus,” and the heartbreaking “A Stoning Before Breakfast.” My favorite stories were perhaps located in Part II: When A War’s Not Over, but all of the sections contained winners. The last story by Gina B. Nahai, “The Gravedigger’s Kaddish,” left me with open mouth and the exclamation, “Wow!” I can only say I am so happy I was able to read and review this excellent collection of stories representing a most fascinating and at times, almost incomprehensible (to me) city.
March 17, 2015
I was about 250 pages into Blake Butler's 300,000,000 when this collection of stories came in through interlibrary loan (I'm broke, what can I say). To be honest, Butler's book had worn out its welcome a good 100 pages ago, and TEHRAN NOIR was everything I was craving. Dirty, murderous, sort of the same as 300,000,000 now that I think about it, except engaged with a world beyond America and Blake Butler's dick (so many dicks in 300,000,000--every free write ends with a dick). TEHRAN NOIR humanizes through the back door, shows dumbass Americans like me that Iranians have so much more on their minds than what CNN or Fox News or a gang of Republicans even dumber and assier want us (me) to believe. The Iranians in these stories love, fuck, drink, hate, do drugs, remember war and revolution, live vital lives; they could care less about nuking the United States. Mandatory reading for xenophobics, Islamophobics, and Iranophobics. Recommended reading for lovers of good stories all around.
July 19, 2025
Sempre em conflito consigo mesmo, o Irã se encaixa no mundo através do desencaixe, sendo uma ponte entre Oriente e Ocidente, mundo árabe e Oriente Médio, entre seu passado pré-revolução e seu presente sob o olhar vigilante da República Islâmica. No epicentro do desencaixe, temos Teerã, a cidade sísmica que, nas palavras de Salar Abdoh, é uma justaposição de feiura e beleza que parte o coração.
A presente antologia é um caleidoscópio que revela os lados sombrios da capital iraniana. Salvo alguns contos que não me fisgaram, fui atingido por reviravoltas e referências inesperadas — em "Um apedrejamento antes do café" senti um forte paralelo com o famoso "A loteria" de Shirley Jackson, já em "O canto fúnebre do coveiro", a citação de Norma Desmond em Sunset Boulevard veio justo em tempo, dado que curiosamente assisti ao filme pela primeira vez há alguns dias.
Vislumbramos aqui as tensões e dinâmicas de poder existente na sociedade iraniana: em contos como "A arcada dos dentes mais brancos de Teerã" e "O canto fúnebre do coveiro" temos iranianos que emigraram em busca da suposta liberdade ocidental e suas oportunidades brilhantes, já em "A geografia de uma mulher é sagrada" e "O atravessador de cadáveres" vemos como há aqueles que buscam em Teerã as ditas oportunidades na figura dos imigrantes afegãos que, fugindo da guerra, são desprezados e relegados a trabalhos braçais e de pouco prestígio.
"Data de validade da vingança" traz à tona a realidade conflituosa de quem viveu a militância e sobreviveu, bem ou mal. Vários contos também retratam a realidade da condição da mulher iraniana, com destaque para "Meu próprio Jesus de mármore" e "A ponte de Simão", para não citar alguns que já foram mencionados. Não desejo me estender, porém há mais a ser dito. Aos leitores brasileiros, recomendo a antologia para quem deseja uma porta de entrada para uma literatura de difícil acesso em nossas prateleiras.
--//--
A história pesadona da cidade pesada ☆
O medo é a melhor forma de guardar segredo ☆☆☆☆
A geografia de uma mulher é sagrada ☆☆☆☆
Data de validade da vingança ☆☆☆☆
O atravessador de cadáveres ☆☆☆☆
O dia de Lariyan ao sol ☆
A arcada dos dentes mais brancos de Teerã ☆☆☆☆
A inquietação de um assassino em série na linha de chegada ☆
Meu próprio Jesus de mármore ☆☆☆.5
No albergue ☆
Um apedrejamento antes do café ☆☆☆☆
A ponte de Simão ☆☆☆☆
Nem toda bala tem um rei como alvo ☆☆☆☆
O retorno do noivo ☆
O canto fúnebre do coveiro ☆☆☆☆
A presente antologia é um caleidoscópio que revela os lados sombrios da capital iraniana. Salvo alguns contos que não me fisgaram, fui atingido por reviravoltas e referências inesperadas — em "Um apedrejamento antes do café" senti um forte paralelo com o famoso "A loteria" de Shirley Jackson, já em "O canto fúnebre do coveiro", a citação de Norma Desmond em Sunset Boulevard veio justo em tempo, dado que curiosamente assisti ao filme pela primeira vez há alguns dias.
Vislumbramos aqui as tensões e dinâmicas de poder existente na sociedade iraniana: em contos como "A arcada dos dentes mais brancos de Teerã" e "O canto fúnebre do coveiro" temos iranianos que emigraram em busca da suposta liberdade ocidental e suas oportunidades brilhantes, já em "A geografia de uma mulher é sagrada" e "O atravessador de cadáveres" vemos como há aqueles que buscam em Teerã as ditas oportunidades na figura dos imigrantes afegãos que, fugindo da guerra, são desprezados e relegados a trabalhos braçais e de pouco prestígio.
"Data de validade da vingança" traz à tona a realidade conflituosa de quem viveu a militância e sobreviveu, bem ou mal. Vários contos também retratam a realidade da condição da mulher iraniana, com destaque para "Meu próprio Jesus de mármore" e "A ponte de Simão", para não citar alguns que já foram mencionados. Não desejo me estender, porém há mais a ser dito. Aos leitores brasileiros, recomendo a antologia para quem deseja uma porta de entrada para uma literatura de difícil acesso em nossas prateleiras.
--//--
A história pesadona da cidade pesada ☆
O medo é a melhor forma de guardar segredo ☆☆☆☆
A geografia de uma mulher é sagrada ☆☆☆☆
Data de validade da vingança ☆☆☆☆
O atravessador de cadáveres ☆☆☆☆
O dia de Lariyan ao sol ☆
A arcada dos dentes mais brancos de Teerã ☆☆☆☆
A inquietação de um assassino em série na linha de chegada ☆
Meu próprio Jesus de mármore ☆☆☆.5
No albergue ☆
Um apedrejamento antes do café ☆☆☆☆
A ponte de Simão ☆☆☆☆
Nem toda bala tem um rei como alvo ☆☆☆☆
O retorno do noivo ☆
O canto fúnebre do coveiro ☆☆☆☆
December 11, 2014
The Akashic Noir series delivers the some of the best genre fiction on the shelves today. The better entries give you a feel for the featured city and more importantly the people of that city. Tehran Noir is one of those better ones.
What I found most striking about these stories is how funny many of them are. I don't know why but I never associated Iran with humor, but this book is one of the funniest in the series - darkly so.
I've complained in the past about the international volumes reading too much like translations. That is not a problem here. Editor Salar Abdoh translated all of the stories himself superbly, giving the book a consistency lacking in some of the others.
Highly Recommended!
What I found most striking about these stories is how funny many of them are. I don't know why but I never associated Iran with humor, but this book is one of the funniest in the series - darkly so.
I've complained in the past about the international volumes reading too much like translations. That is not a problem here. Editor Salar Abdoh translated all of the stories himself superbly, giving the book a consistency lacking in some of the others.
Highly Recommended!
June 7, 2016
Interesting collection of short stories, mostly gritty detective-type stories, all set in Tehran. The stories were a bit cruder than I would have liked, but they provided an interesting window into a world not often reported on in other areas of the media.
January 24, 2017
As people who follow me know, I am very into the Akashic Noir series of books. This is my fifth or sixth review of a book in the series. The series focuses on a city or country and every story is written by a different author. I can’t recommend the series highky enough.
Tehran Noir was one of the best I have read so far. One of my the main reasons I enjoyed it so thoroughly is because it gives readers and alternate picture of Tehran from the people who live there. And everything you think you know about that city and Iran, you should pretty much toss out.
The book is divided into four parts: The Crime Pages, When a War’s Not Over, Proper Burial and The Executioners Song. Every story was strong and every one can stand on its own but I did have my favorites.
From The Crime Pages, I loved “Fear Is the Best Keeper of Secrets” by Rey. It is kind of an underworld story and it has a cast of characters that are so well drawn, you can imagine it as a movie. Great stuff.
In the next section, I loved “The Whitest Set of Teeth in Tehran” by Salar Abdoh. I just could not put the book down while I read that story. All of the stories in part two reflect life where war is the primary occupation of most people and how difficult it is to get to a peaceful place.
If you think women do not have power in Iran, I can disabuse you of that idea just by reading this book. They are leading a silent revolution and my favorite story in the whole book was “My Own Marble Jesus” by Mahsa Mohebali. That story was simply brilliant and spoke to the issues of all kinds of minorities in a country run by religion. So powerful and just a wonderful piece.
My second favorite was “The Restlessness of a Serial Killer at the Finish Line” by Shush. It was quite chilling and also very interesting. It is about death and it does have both a grim and grisly quality but I can highly recommend it.
The final section piece that I enjoyed was written set in what many in the Iranian community call Tehrangeles, which is Los Angeles. It is written from the point of view of an expat. Very entertaining.
Even with my favorites, there is really not a bad story in the bunch. I highly recommend this book. It provides a glimpse into a life and culture that too often is damned by slanted news media portrayals. Tehran is more than the news.
Tehran Noir was one of the best I have read so far. One of my the main reasons I enjoyed it so thoroughly is because it gives readers and alternate picture of Tehran from the people who live there. And everything you think you know about that city and Iran, you should pretty much toss out.
The book is divided into four parts: The Crime Pages, When a War’s Not Over, Proper Burial and The Executioners Song. Every story was strong and every one can stand on its own but I did have my favorites.
From The Crime Pages, I loved “Fear Is the Best Keeper of Secrets” by Rey. It is kind of an underworld story and it has a cast of characters that are so well drawn, you can imagine it as a movie. Great stuff.
In the next section, I loved “The Whitest Set of Teeth in Tehran” by Salar Abdoh. I just could not put the book down while I read that story. All of the stories in part two reflect life where war is the primary occupation of most people and how difficult it is to get to a peaceful place.
If you think women do not have power in Iran, I can disabuse you of that idea just by reading this book. They are leading a silent revolution and my favorite story in the whole book was “My Own Marble Jesus” by Mahsa Mohebali. That story was simply brilliant and spoke to the issues of all kinds of minorities in a country run by religion. So powerful and just a wonderful piece.
My second favorite was “The Restlessness of a Serial Killer at the Finish Line” by Shush. It was quite chilling and also very interesting. It is about death and it does have both a grim and grisly quality but I can highly recommend it.
The final section piece that I enjoyed was written set in what many in the Iranian community call Tehrangeles, which is Los Angeles. It is written from the point of view of an expat. Very entertaining.
Even with my favorites, there is really not a bad story in the bunch. I highly recommend this book. It provides a glimpse into a life and culture that too often is damned by slanted news media portrayals. Tehran is more than the news.
November 2, 2025
I can think of few places more suitable for the grit and inner turmoil of the Noir genre than what I know of Tehran. As a prologue skims over, it is a city and country full of contradictions, moral and social conflict, extreme class differences, bribery a widely known fact of daily life, and an ever looming threat of a hypocritical government. Yet in this tangle are also earnest people, a rich culture, and a long history of resistance.
These contradictions may be a source of strife in the real life day to day of people but it is undeniable that some of these stories are in part intense and terrifying because they're not entirely outlandish from accounts heard from refugees and those who have found a way to speak out. In no way am I suggesting these stories or fact or that similar problems aren't in most major cities. Only that each story is built on top of a strong reference point.
Most anthologies inevitably vary in quality or appeal to a reader. What really took me by surprise was how with a single exception I was actually quite invested in each story. This is even more impressive with the variety of genres and character types of protagonists. There is also one story that tragically seems all too plausible and even one that tickles magical realism. There are well meaning journalists, survivors of the prison system alongside fatales of both genders, former convicts trying to bury their pasts, and simply industrious persons trying to muck their way through circumstances of living.
While you might gravitate more to one type or story or another everyone really captures that morally gray character or situation, bleak or vengeful setups, and shady choices that I associate with this subgenre. That the atmosphere carried from piece to piece without being one-note was very enjoyable.
These contradictions may be a source of strife in the real life day to day of people but it is undeniable that some of these stories are in part intense and terrifying because they're not entirely outlandish from accounts heard from refugees and those who have found a way to speak out. In no way am I suggesting these stories or fact or that similar problems aren't in most major cities. Only that each story is built on top of a strong reference point.
Most anthologies inevitably vary in quality or appeal to a reader. What really took me by surprise was how with a single exception I was actually quite invested in each story. This is even more impressive with the variety of genres and character types of protagonists. There is also one story that tragically seems all too plausible and even one that tickles magical realism. There are well meaning journalists, survivors of the prison system alongside fatales of both genders, former convicts trying to bury their pasts, and simply industrious persons trying to muck their way through circumstances of living.
While you might gravitate more to one type or story or another everyone really captures that morally gray character or situation, bleak or vengeful setups, and shady choices that I associate with this subgenre. That the atmosphere carried from piece to piece without being one-note was very enjoyable.
September 12, 2019
Wonderful stories. Classically written noir. Some take place in Tehran, some in the U.S.A. with Iranian protagonists. The fast-paced stories are very cleverly written, and grab your interest immediately. There is an interconnection between the stories and people as places intersect. Which may well have been the point: the interconnectedness of people, especially Iranians caught up in the revolutionary fervor, fighting, martyrdom and destruction. But it's not just Iranians, but Iraqis, and Jews and Muslims, and those without faith, all who have that Iranian connection. But, in reading the stories, that becomes the backdrop - important to understanding and visualizing the stories, and to identifying with the cast of characters - but it is the writing that pulls you in and treats you to some grand storytelling, above all else. Modern Persian tales.
Really enjoyed this; I could only barely resist putting the book down to eat and sleep.
Really enjoyed this; I could only barely resist putting the book down to eat and sleep.
September 30, 2017
Do not be fooled by the length of time that it took me to read this entry in the Akashic Noir series into thinking that I did not enjoy it. I just got sidetracked by Martin Limon's "Sgts. Sueno & Bascomb" series & got so immersed in those books that all others got shunted to the side.
Phew! Things are grim everywhere, it seems. Clearly, the boot heel of fundamentalism is causing what I like to refer to as "social hydraulics" - the more that you press down & try to contain an aspect of society, the more likely it is to spill/squirt out.
I really enjoyed the "Rashomon"/jump-cut style of "Not Every Bullet Is Meant for a King", but conversely, "The Gravedigger's Kaddish" was too long, meandering & did not have a suitable payoff. Others were quite good, but those two marked the bookends for me.
Phew! Things are grim everywhere, it seems. Clearly, the boot heel of fundamentalism is causing what I like to refer to as "social hydraulics" - the more that you press down & try to contain an aspect of society, the more likely it is to spill/squirt out.
I really enjoyed the "Rashomon"/jump-cut style of "Not Every Bullet Is Meant for a King", but conversely, "The Gravedigger's Kaddish" was too long, meandering & did not have a suitable payoff. Others were quite good, but those two marked the bookends for me.
February 18, 2022
This collection of fifteen short stories by Iranian authors may not always be easy to read, but that doesn't matter. What does matter is that Tehran Noir is not only a solid collection of crime stories, but it's also an illuminating depiction of day-to-day life in Iran complete with its religious, political, and racial tensions.
In Iran, the number thirteen is considered to be so unlucky that if that's your house number, it's shown as 12+1. Political tensions run so high that, if your loved one dies on the wrong side of the border, you can hire a "corpse fixer" to find the body and bring it to you for a proper burial. Afghans and Armenians are Iranians' choice for menial jobs, and the participants in a woman's stoning take photos with their cell phones in between sessions of rock-throwing.
The stories also show us a bank robbery and what led to it; Qesas, the brutal "eye for an eye" of Islamic law; two men in love with the same woman; investigative reporters; and what mothers will do to protect their children.
This is a culture that's very different from my comfortable existence here in the United States. I enjoy the Akashic Noir series because I love crime fiction, and there are plenty of solid crime-fueled stories to be found here, but what I've also found to be true is that the series also provides a look into other cultures, other customs, other points of view. This added insight is worth its weight in gold, above and beyond the talent shown in the collected short stories.
In Iran, the number thirteen is considered to be so unlucky that if that's your house number, it's shown as 12+1. Political tensions run so high that, if your loved one dies on the wrong side of the border, you can hire a "corpse fixer" to find the body and bring it to you for a proper burial. Afghans and Armenians are Iranians' choice for menial jobs, and the participants in a woman's stoning take photos with their cell phones in between sessions of rock-throwing.
The stories also show us a bank robbery and what led to it; Qesas, the brutal "eye for an eye" of Islamic law; two men in love with the same woman; investigative reporters; and what mothers will do to protect their children.
This is a culture that's very different from my comfortable existence here in the United States. I enjoy the Akashic Noir series because I love crime fiction, and there are plenty of solid crime-fueled stories to be found here, but what I've also found to be true is that the series also provides a look into other cultures, other customs, other points of view. This added insight is worth its weight in gold, above and beyond the talent shown in the collected short stories.
July 2, 2019
by: Abbas Vahdani
Shamar the Migrant is a novel written by the Kurdish author, Farhaad H.Gooran .this novel narrates the existence of Yarsan people and approaches the chronicle of a Kurdish person. Shamar Bourbur is the focal character of this novel. After the catastrophic earthquake in Kermanshah (2017) his mother was buried in a mass grave. He leaves his homeland and runs away to the capital city, Tehran. Shouldering the unbearable mental burden of the trauma as well his mystic book called Daftar. Throughout a meticulously arranged research-based assignment in a rehabilitation camp (Kamp-e-Nejat/ Rescue-Camp), he witnessed the putrefaction of his body, dwindling of his soul and dissipation of all the names and notions which were voraciously documented down in his diary. Kamp -e-Nejat is indeed the metaphor of downfall of human and animals in the modern era. In the last page of the novel, Shamar Bourbur escapes by horse, which has also entered the Rescue-Camp, mysteriously. Shamar Bourbur is presumably another manifestation of Mejo, a focal figure in Farhad Gooran’s other novel, Nafastangi (Shortness of breath), which was regarded as the pinnacle of novels in the 2000's by most prominent of Persian literature critics. In a part of the text the narrator emphatically utters: “They buried my star as I left”. Shamar Bourbur tries to consign the light of his star to the future by summoning the soul of a deceased loved one. The first chapter of this novel has been translated by Salar Abdoh to English and published by akashicbooks (Tehran Noir book) in USA, 2014.
Shamar the Migrant is a novel written by the Kurdish author, Farhaad H.Gooran .this novel narrates the existence of Yarsan people and approaches the chronicle of a Kurdish person. Shamar Bourbur is the focal character of this novel. After the catastrophic earthquake in Kermanshah (2017) his mother was buried in a mass grave. He leaves his homeland and runs away to the capital city, Tehran. Shouldering the unbearable mental burden of the trauma as well his mystic book called Daftar. Throughout a meticulously arranged research-based assignment in a rehabilitation camp (Kamp-e-Nejat/ Rescue-Camp), he witnessed the putrefaction of his body, dwindling of his soul and dissipation of all the names and notions which were voraciously documented down in his diary. Kamp -e-Nejat is indeed the metaphor of downfall of human and animals in the modern era. In the last page of the novel, Shamar Bourbur escapes by horse, which has also entered the Rescue-Camp, mysteriously. Shamar Bourbur is presumably another manifestation of Mejo, a focal figure in Farhad Gooran’s other novel, Nafastangi (Shortness of breath), which was regarded as the pinnacle of novels in the 2000's by most prominent of Persian literature critics. In a part of the text the narrator emphatically utters: “They buried my star as I left”. Shamar Bourbur tries to consign the light of his star to the future by summoning the soul of a deceased loved one. The first chapter of this novel has been translated by Salar Abdoh to English and published by akashicbooks (Tehran Noir book) in USA, 2014.
May 22, 2023
I'm giving this book 3 1⁄2 stars in my reading log. Interesting and intense stories, though some of the content was rather sketchy at times. Guess that's the dark side of things, which just proves so clearly that evil exists & that sin runs rampant in this broken & bent world. Only Jesus can make a difference.
February 19, 2018
Fifteen short stories from Iranian authors. It's not surprising that Tehran, a city of 15 million, has a similar grit and steaminess as New York or LA. The style and mood varies greatly, but the atmosphere is decidedly noir.
August 15, 2024
Too lazy to review this individually. Honestly, I can barely remember any that really gripped me, with regard to pathos OR Tarantino cleverness. Mostly worth reading if you’re curious about geography.
May 20, 2017
A fantastic collection. Each story is enthralling and interesting. Some are confronting and some and exciting. A truly amazing collection
September 19, 2020
A brilliant book about Noir life in Tehran.
July 12, 2022
None
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 13, 2024
Pretty good, great stories, but the 4th part (the Brazilian version is divided in 4 at least) isn’t wonderful. The 4th part is actually slow. A good book even tho
April 24, 2015
Goodreads Win
Tehran Noir is collection of crime stories that are not necessary black and white as it sweeps you into another world. We are trust into a world that most readers are not familiar with it but it makes for an interesting read.
Each author takes us on a path as watch tell their tale in their own style as each story capturing us for a moment in time. This is an interesting look at Tehran and it’s crimes.
Tehran Noir is collection of crime stories that are not necessary black and white as it sweeps you into another world. We are trust into a world that most readers are not familiar with it but it makes for an interesting read.
Each author takes us on a path as watch tell their tale in their own style as each story capturing us for a moment in time. This is an interesting look at Tehran and it’s crimes.
June 22, 2015
Overall the short stories give a great insight in to the Noir Tehran and the daily lives of its people and how they live and cope with poverty, prostitution, crime or fear. However, I did not enjoy reading all the stories. Some of the pieces were very weak in describing the characters or the environment were the story took place. But from the 15 short stories I highly recommend reading the ones from: Vali Khalili, Majed Neisi, Salar Abdoh, Mhasa Mohebali, Hossein Abkenar and Gina Nahai.
Read
March 10, 2015"Like any other short fiction collection, Tehran Noir has of course both stronger and weaker stories. Still, it is a tour de force not to be missed." - Raha Namy, University of Denver
This book was reviewed in the March 2015 issue of World Literature Today. Read the full review by visiting our website: http://bit.ly/1KOcMvo
This book was reviewed in the March 2015 issue of World Literature Today. Read the full review by visiting our website: http://bit.ly/1KOcMvo
December 10, 2014
The book consists of several short stories depicting the corrupt life style of Iranians living in Tehran during the post revolutionary period The writing isn't that good nor were the stories. If you were from the middle east you might enjoy the book.
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June 22, 2015Great read. A collection of short stories from various Iranian authors around the time of the revolution. The themes tend to focus on either corruption in the post-shah government, the plight of the poor, or the grind of the daily life. Rather noir but still a great read.
October 16, 2014
deadly disturbing
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