ADAM ZAMEENZAD

Once described as Pakistan’s ‘Salman Rushdie’ Adam Zameenzad is one of the most exciting and fascinating authors at work today. Every one of his novels has been published to great acclaim.

PEPSI AND MARIA

‘Imagine a hybrid of City of God and The Wizard of Oz… a crossover triumph.’ Independent
‘A beautifully crafted, multi-faceted book; at once a highly dramatic and gripping thriller… [and] a searing indictment of cruelty and inhumanity.’ New Internationalist


Pepsi is a smart street kid in an unnamed South American country – an orphan of circumstance, whose mother is dead and whose father, a famous politician, has disowned him. At his side is Maria, a girl kidnapped from her real family who has found in Pepsi a true ‘brother’. In this hard-hitting yet fantastic tale, Pepsi’s mission is to escape the sadistic Caddy, a policeman in cahoots with his father, whose one aim is to exterminate him, and to return Maria to her home – the rubbish-tip township she calls ‘Heaven’.

Adam Zameenzad portrays the lives of social outcasts, loners, losers, the deprived and the dispossessed. He aims to give voice to the voiceless, and make visible the invisible. In this remarkable novel, the children’s zest for life and the beauty of the world around them ensure that their dramatic and poetic story, while dealing with the appalling reality of street children’s lives, is uplifting to the spirit.

PEPSI AND MARIA features Zameenzad’s unsentimental, trademark humour and distinctly fictional milieu, drawing attention to the plight of street children, trying to give voice to the voiceless. Without question an important novel – an incredibly moving story, and effortlessly entertaining too. From the highly acclaimed author of MY FRIEND MATT & HENA THE WHORE, CYRUS CYRUS, LOVE BONES & WATER and THE THIRTEENTH HOUSE.

Sales: Maia Press UK (WEL); Christian Bourgois France; Ediciones Ambar Spain.

Also by Adam Zameenzad –

 

GORGEOUS WHITE FEMALE
(Fourth Estate hb 1995, Fourth Estate pb 1996)

Eleven-year-old Lahya despises his Bengali father and yearns to be like his English middle-class mother, whom he worships. Taken to New York for the funeral of his murdered grandfather who ran a chain of sex shops in the city, he finds the solution to his obsession in Kali, the black goddess. He makes a Faustian pact with her that demands the sacrifice of a young, good looking white male in order for him to be transformed into the gorgeous white female of his dreams. So Lahya ventures forth into the streets of New York in search of his prey…

In this provocative, darkly humorous and wickedly observant novel, Zameenzad conjures up the sexual and emotional maelstrom of a young boy on the verge of adulthood.

PRESS REVIEWS OF GORGEOUS WHITE FEMALE

'An artfully constructed novel, playfully imaginative and featuring sentences that have the rhythm and rumble of Manhattan street sounds.' Time Out

'Lahya is an endearing creation, witty and believable.' Times Literary Supplement

'A sharp-eyed depiction of male transsexuality.' Vogue

'Witty, wise and consistently entertaining.' Gay Times

'A Fellini-esque parade of character.' Sunday Times

 

CYRUS, CYRUS

Born a Choodah, lowest of out-caste Indians, Cyrus is marked out at an early age by his sexual profligacy, supernatural intelligence and by the sign of the devil on his back. Following the violent deaths of members of his family, Cyrus escapes to the West and embarks on a series of fantastical adventures across America, involving religious sects, vagabonds and a lot of women. But it is in England where nemesis awaits Cyrus, and where he becomes the most notorious criminal of the century.

Published by Fourth Estate hb 1990, Minerva pb 1991)

PRESS REVIEWS OF CYRUS, CYRUS

'A cautionary tale that has thrown caution to the wind. Powerful, energetic and sometimes profound, it succeeds on many levels and accomplishes many things.' Independent

'Brilliant – truly funny and gloriously inventive.' Sunday Times

'The most exciting post-Rushdie fiction of the year.' Valentine Cunningham

'…outdistances 95 per cent of the thin gruel that passes for serious literary fiction these days.' Blitz

 

LOVE, BONES AND WATER
(Fourth Estate hb 1989, Flamingo pb 1990):

In Gulroza, Valley of the Flowers, lies a shanty town whose people are soon to be brutally evicted in the name of progress and political convenience.

Their plight seems irrevocable. Desperately poor, yet defiant and filled with a love of life, they are to be swept aside like leaves in the gathering storm.

Then, one day, a grey messiah appears in their midst, unlooked-for, savagely mutilated, and with eyes that shine like diamonds…

PRESS REVIEWS OF LOVE, BONES AND WATER

'A writer of great originality who brings together tough satire and an unforced lyricism with remarkable effect.' The Guardian

 

'Quite unlike anything else recently published. Love, Bones and Water is a wry political fantasy and a moving evocation of childhood innocence, remarkable for its clarity.' Patrick Gale, Daily Telegraph

'Zameenzad again shows his ability to exercise his imagination (including its comic elements) at the heart of situations of injustice, presenting them not at the superficial level of issues, but as lived experience.' Independent

'A great novel.' Time Out

 

MY FRIEND MATT AND HENA THE WHORE
(Fourth Estate hb 1988, Flamingo pb 1989):

Kimo, Golam, Matt and Hena live in an African village that is dying. So they embark on a search for an older cousin who has supposedly made it big in the city, but they find on their journey a country paralysed by famine and civil war. Although they are soon little more than skeletons, the children are full of resources with which to meet this world. One is laughter; another is Hena’s practical intelligence. Their willingness to help those less able to cope is a powerful affirmation of man’s fundamental humanity towards his fellow man. An unforgettable story of four courageous children on a journey in war-torn Africa.

'Beautifully written, imbued with enormous integrity and insight.' Time Out

'An outstanding second novel, a most harrowing book, into which the author manages to weave a thread of humour which is his most remarkable achievement.' The Times

'It would be hard to over-praise the achievement… a truly remarkable novel.' Punch

Material: Finished copies

Sales: Christian Bourgois France; Giunti Italy; Teorema Portugal; Ediciones Ambar Spain.

FILM RIGHTS to MY FRIEND MATT & HENA THE WHORE with Niama Filmproduktion.

THEATRE RIGHTS sold to Mari Binnie.

 

THE THIRTEENTH HOUSE
(Fourth Estate hardback 1987, Flamingo paperback 1988),

Adam Zameenzad’s spectacular debut novel won the David Higham Prize for Fiction.

PRESS REVIEWS OF THE THIRTEENTH HOUSE

'An unusually talented and vigorous first work.' Doris Lessing

'Here is fine narrative wryness of the R. K. Narayan sort.' Observer

'A forceful, moving and confident debut.' Times Literary Supplement

'If comedy was ever black, this is.' Guardian

Adam Zameenzad has been published by: Viking & Random House USA; Klett Cotta Germany; Van Gennep NL; Marcos y Marcos Italy; Editions Christian Bourgois France; Ediciones Versal Spain; Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke Denmark; Am Oved Israel; Ordfront Sweden; Pax Norway; Treville Japan.

Adam Zameenzad was born in Pakistan and spent his early childhood in Nairobi. He went to university in Lahore, Pakistan, becoming a lecturer there. He then took two years off to travel around Europe and the Americas before coming to live and work in the UK.

www.adamzameenzad.com