BEKHRAD, Joobin
Coming Down Again

One seemingly endless summer in Tehran, Asha, a brokenhearted schoolboy on sleepy Cypress Lane, finds himself with nothing to do. Nothing, that is, except daydream about escaping to London to become a rock and roll star, wait for Keith Richards and the Stones to come on the television, let his imagination run amok in his mum’s closet, and pine away in vain for Arezu, the pretty girl upstairs who’s hit it off with a classmate of his.

Down and out in the manic, bustling Iranian capital, Asha only finds solace in Ghermezi, his battered cherry-red guitar, the pin-ups on his bedroom wall, and his dreams. Though he longs to leave Tehran, in which he sees no place or future for himself, he also holds in his heart a special love and affection for the only city he’s ever known. [publishers’ note]

With an introduction by Rahill Jamalifard; cover artwork by Mélodie Hojabr Sadat.

Self-Published, 2016
Literature