Temporary People (Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant W)

Temporary People (Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant W)

Winner of the Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing

"Guest workers of the United Arab Emirates embody multiple worlds and identities and long for home in a fantastical debut work of fiction, winner of the inaugural Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing.â€¦ The author's crisp, imaginative prose packs a punch, and his whimsical depiction of characters who oscillate between two lands on either side of the Arabian Sea unspools the kind of immigrant narratives that are rarely told. An enchanting, unparalleled anthem of displacement and repatriation."Â â€”Kirkus Reviews, starred review

In the United Arab Emirates, foreign nationals constitute over 80 percent of the population. Brought in to construct the towering monuments to wealth that punctuate the skylines of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, this labor force works without the rights of citizenship, endures miserable living conditions, and is ultimately forced to leave the country. Until now, the humanitarian crisis of the so-called â€œguest workersâ€ of the Gulf has barely been addressed in fiction. With his stunning, mind-altering debut novel Temporary People, Deepak Unnikrishnan delves into their histories, myths, struggles, and triumphs.Â

Combining the irrepressible linguistic invention of Salman Rushdie and the satirical vision of George Saunders, Unnikrishnan presents twenty-eight linked stories that careen from construction workers who shapeshift into luggage and escape a labor camp, to a woman who stitches back together the bodies of those whoâ€™ve fallen from buildings in progress, to a man who grows ideal workers designed to live twelve years and then perishâ€”until they donâ€™t, and found a rebel community in the desert. With this polyphony, Unnikrishnan brilliantly maps a new, unruly global English. Giving substance and identity to the anonymous workers of the Gulf, he highlights the disturbing ways in which â€œprogressâ€ on a global scale is bound up with dehumanization.Â
Country USA
Brand Simon & Schuster
Manufacturer Restless Books
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber 9781632061423
ReleaseDate 2017-03-14
UnitCount 1
EANs 9781632061423

Country	USA
Brand	Simon & Schuster
Manufacturer	Restless Books
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	9781632061423
ReleaseDate	2017-03-14
UnitCount	1
EANs	9781632061423

Temporary People (Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant W)

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