Dawn
Stories
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
Written from behind bars, DAWN is the unforgettable story collection from one of Turkey’s leading politicians, and most powerful oppositional voices.
From the dynamic political force ‘who has evoked comparisons to President Obama’ (New York Times), Selahattin Demirtaş’ stories capture the voices of ordinary people living in extraordinary times – from cleaning ladies and teenage laborers, bus drivers and factory workers, from a violent demonstration in Ankara to a five-year-old girl’s attempt to escape war-torn Syria by boat.
With Demirtaş’ trademark wit, warmth and humor, and seasoned by the vernacular of everyday speech, DAWN paints a remarkable portrait of life behind the headlines in Turkey and the Middle East – in all its hardship and adversity, freedom and hope.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Demirtas (Seher) explores resistance, persistence, and perseverance in modern-day Turkey in these 12 perceptive stories. Demirtas, a former Turkish parliament member for the People's Democratic Party, has been controversially imprisoned since 2016 for spreading propaganda, and writes in the collection's introduction, "What readers or voters expect from the writer and politician are, in essence, the same: to be inspired." Through such characters as Nazan, a mechanic's son; B kes, a student who has won the chance to attend a conference in America; and an unnamed lawyer traveling across country by bus, Demirtas constructs lively personalities who envision a greater, more open Turkey. Throughout, Demirtas finds optimism in dire situations. In the collection's standout, "It's Not What You Think," one man's failed suicide attempt becomes a spiritual moment of revelation after he walks to the local market with a new sense of meaning: "this ray of light completed a journey that had lasted millions of years. Who could have known when it set out all that time ago that it would turn the rest of my life upside down?" Demirtas shares an optimistic vision for Turkey's future with these neatly constructed, affecting stories of dreamers from all walks of life.
