"Finely wrought, a master class in the layering of time and contradiction that gives us a deeply imagined, and deeply human, soul." --Rebecca Makkai, The New York Times Book Review
"A brilliant, gripping account of countries, politics, and the long reach of history . . . This book could not have arrived at a more urgent time.” —Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, author of Brief Encounters With the Enemy
From the bestselling author of The Septembers of Shiraz, the story of an Iranian man reckoning with his capacity for love and evil
Set in Iran and New York City, Man of My Time tells the story of Hamid Mozaffarian, who is as alienated from himself as he is from the world around him. After decades of ambivalent work as an interrogator with the Iranian regime, Hamid travels on a diplomatic mission to New York, where he encounters his estranged family and retrieves the ashes of his father, whose dying wish was to be buried in Iran.
Tucked in his pocket throughout the trip, the ashes propel him into a first-person excavation—full of mordant wit and bitter memory—of a lifetime of betrayal, and prompt him to trace his own evolution from a perceptive boy in love with marbles to a man who, on seeing his own reflection, is startled to encounter someone he no longer recognizes. As he reconnects with his brother and others living in exile, Hamid is forced to reckon with his past, with the insidious nature of violence, and with his entrenchment in a system that for decades ensnared him.
Politically complex and emotionally compelling, Man of My Time explores variations of loss—of people, places, ideals, time, and self. This is a novel not only about family and memory but about the interdependence of captor and captive, of citizen and country, of an individual and his or her heritage. With sensitivity and strength, Dalia Sofer conjures the interior lives of the “generation that had borne and inflicted what could not be undone.”
Genre: Literary Fiction
"A brilliant, gripping account of countries, politics, and the long reach of history . . . This book could not have arrived at a more urgent time.” —Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, author of Brief Encounters With the Enemy
From the bestselling author of The Septembers of Shiraz, the story of an Iranian man reckoning with his capacity for love and evil
Set in Iran and New York City, Man of My Time tells the story of Hamid Mozaffarian, who is as alienated from himself as he is from the world around him. After decades of ambivalent work as an interrogator with the Iranian regime, Hamid travels on a diplomatic mission to New York, where he encounters his estranged family and retrieves the ashes of his father, whose dying wish was to be buried in Iran.
Tucked in his pocket throughout the trip, the ashes propel him into a first-person excavation—full of mordant wit and bitter memory—of a lifetime of betrayal, and prompt him to trace his own evolution from a perceptive boy in love with marbles to a man who, on seeing his own reflection, is startled to encounter someone he no longer recognizes. As he reconnects with his brother and others living in exile, Hamid is forced to reckon with his past, with the insidious nature of violence, and with his entrenchment in a system that for decades ensnared him.
Politically complex and emotionally compelling, Man of My Time explores variations of loss—of people, places, ideals, time, and self. This is a novel not only about family and memory but about the interdependence of captor and captive, of citizen and country, of an individual and his or her heritage. With sensitivity and strength, Dalia Sofer conjures the interior lives of the “generation that had borne and inflicted what could not be undone.”
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"In the grand tradition of confessionals, Dalia Sofer's wry but troubled narrator unfolds a riveting tale of a man rotting from the inside, just as his nation, Iran, and so much of the rest of the world today is also in moral convulsions. Both wrenching and wise, Man of My Time gives the reader food for thought in every elegantly-wrought sentence and on every level at once: the political, personal, historical and philosophical. A brilliant examination of the roots and fragility of human morality, this is one of the great books of our age." - Helen Benedict
"Dalia Sofer's bold and beautiful novel explores boundaries that are geographical, political, ethical, and temporal. Her unsparing yet empathic portrait of Hamid Mozaffarian challenges facile notions about the distance between good and evil, right and wrong, judgment and redemption. At once haunted and haunting, Man of My Time is very much a book for our time." - Michael Frank
"With Sofer's considerable talents, the betrayals (of both self and others) that leave Hamid a brittle shell of a man are fully worthy of our intense gaze . . . [Man of My Time is] finely wrought, a master class in the layering of time and contradiction that gives us a deeply imagined, and deeply human, soul." - Rebecca Makkai
"Now more than ever the world needs Dalia Sofer's voice. Man of My Time is a brilliant, gripping account of countries, politics, and the long reach of history. But it's also a story of family, the human soul and what it means to be alive today--for Iranians and Americans alike. This book could not have arrived at a more urgent time." - Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
"With Iran so intensely before us, Man of My Time does what only fiction can do. We are inside the mind of a man whose choices keep stunning us, in the violence of politics and in the intimacy of family. A masterful novel, eye-opening in its tale of the multiplying costs of betrayal." - Joan Silber
"Dalia Sofer's bold and beautiful novel explores boundaries that are geographical, political, ethical, and temporal. Her unsparing yet empathic portrait of Hamid Mozaffarian challenges facile notions about the distance between good and evil, right and wrong, judgment and redemption. At once haunted and haunting, Man of My Time is very much a book for our time." - Michael Frank
"With Sofer's considerable talents, the betrayals (of both self and others) that leave Hamid a brittle shell of a man are fully worthy of our intense gaze . . . [Man of My Time is] finely wrought, a master class in the layering of time and contradiction that gives us a deeply imagined, and deeply human, soul." - Rebecca Makkai
"Now more than ever the world needs Dalia Sofer's voice. Man of My Time is a brilliant, gripping account of countries, politics, and the long reach of history. But it's also a story of family, the human soul and what it means to be alive today--for Iranians and Americans alike. This book could not have arrived at a more urgent time." - Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
"With Iran so intensely before us, Man of My Time does what only fiction can do. We are inside the mind of a man whose choices keep stunning us, in the violence of politics and in the intimacy of family. A masterful novel, eye-opening in its tale of the multiplying costs of betrayal." - Joan Silber
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