The Last Illusion
A Novel
by Porochista Khakpour
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Pub Date May 13 2014 | Archive Date Apr 01 2015
Description
Based on a legend from the medieval Persian epic Book of Kings, a kaleidoscopic fabulist novel about a feral boy coming of age in New York as the city hurtles toward 9/11.
In a tiny village in rural Iran, Zal’s demented mother—horrified by his pale skin and hair, the opposite of her own—becomes convinced her baby is evil. She puts him in a wire birdcage on her veranda with the rest of her caged flock, and there he stays for the next ten years: eating birdseed and insects, defecating on the newspaper he squats upon, squawking and shrieking like the other birds.He is rescued from that hell and adopted by a behavioral analyst who brings him to New York and sets out to help him find happiness. Zal is emotionally stunted, asexual, physically unfit, and trying desperately to be human as he stumbles through adolescence. His fervent desire to be normal grows as he ages, but the fact that he still dreams in “bird” and his secret penchant for yogurt-covered beetles make fitting in a challenge. He forges a friendship with a famous illusionist who claims he can fly—another of Zal’s bird-like obsessions—and embarks on a romantic relationship as well. His girlfriend, Asiya, crumbling under the weight of her supposed clairvoyance, sends Zal’s life spiraling out of control. Like the rest of New York, he is on a collision course with tragedy.
The Last Illusion is a wild, operatic, and startling homage to New York and its most harrowing catastrophe. It is tragic but laugh-out-loud funny, irreverent yet respectful, hugely imaginative yet universal.
Porochista Khakpour has been awarded fellowships from the NEA, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Yaddo, and Ucross. Her debut novel, Sons and Other Flammable Objects, was a New York Times Editors’ Choice, one of the Chicago Tribune’s Fall’s Best, and a 2007 California Book Award winner. Her nonfiction has appeared or is forthcoming in Harper’s, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Slate, and Salon. She has taught at Johns Hopkins, Hofstra, Bucknell, Fairfield, Fordham, Columbia, and Wesleyan Universities. She lives in New York City.
Advance Praise
“Utterly original and compelling, Porochista Khakpour’s The Last Illusion weaves Iranian myth with very contemporary American neurosis to create a bittersweet poetry all its own. This ambitious, exciting literary adventure is at once grotesque, amusing, deeply sad—and wonderful, too.” —Claire Messud
“The Last Illusion deftly, unexpectedly, blends Persian myth with modern life, and with the perils and pleasures of magic. In a gripping, sinuous, sometimes explosive voice, Porochista Khakpour tell us a story like no other, with a protagonist like no other—and there is not a reader who will not remember him always.” —Amy Bloom
“Magical and hysterical, each sentence more beautiful than the next, The Last Illusion proves Khakpour a novelist-dazzler on the magnitude of an Aimee Bender or a Jonathan Lethem. The English language has a new master tickler and it is laughing out loud.” —Gary Shteyngart
“The Last Illusion is a book full of hard-fought wonders, harsh and yet full of grace, with a touch of myth, and an abundance of love. A haunting novel that lingers long after the last page.” —Dinaw Mengestu, author of The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears
“This novel confirms Khakpour as one of our best new satirists, partly because she is never as moving as when she is entirely sincere.” —Alexander Chee, author of Edinburgh
“Funny and haunting, bridges the distance between ancient myth and the modern world. As much a coming-of-age story as it is a clear-eyed account of our contemporary lives. This is a work of pure imagination.” —Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, author of When Skateboards Will Be Free
“Khakpour’s elegant, mysterious, hilarious novel contains the most intriguing and inventive collection of heartbreaking characters you’ll ever meet: a mystic in search of a religion, a magician with only one trick, and of course, Zal, the feral boy who just might be a bird. Powerful, passionate, essential work!” —Deb Olin Unferth, author of Revolution
Marketing Plan
Reading group marketing campaign • Social media campaign at publication featuring giveaways and excerpts on Bloomsbury accounts • Digital assets to include book excerpts, reading group guide, and author Q&A • Early online review and promotion via Goodreads • Bookseller outreach campaign • National print and online review and feature coverage • Pre-publication blogger outreach campaign
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781620403044 |
| PRICE | $26.00 (USD) |
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