Product Details
The Ministry of Culture: A Novel

The Ministry of Culture: A Novel
By James P. Mullaney

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Product Description

In his debut novel, James P. Mullaney brilliantly portrays the lives of two men, one an American and the other an Iraqi, each caught up in the turmoil of the Iran-Iraq war. Over the course of just a few days, each will seek a way to change the course of a violent conflict that has irrevocably altered their futures. 
Journalist Michael Young has come to Baghdad to cover the war and the seemingly relentless pattern of violence in Iraq. His return has also given him the chance to reunite with Daniella, a British-Iraqi journalist whose family history has drawn her back to a city that offers her only danger and distrust.
Ibrahim Galeb al-Mansur has devoted his life to the study of art. But the government's repression and paranoia have destroyed his family and silenced his talents. Forced to paint the enormous murals of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein that appear throughout the country, he finds refuge each night among insurgents plotting the overthrow of the brutal dictator.
The Ministry of Culture is a compelling, sometimes unsettling look at the history of Iraqi politics, the complicity of Western governments, and the universal question of how much a person can endure -- and what is art's worth -- amidst the violence of war.
 

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #1234799 in Books
  • Published on: 2007-05-01
  • Released on: 2007-05-01
  • Original language: English
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 304 pages

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Over intervals from five separate months in 1984—the fourth year of the Iran-Iraq war—debut novelist Mullaney tells a harrowing story of life under Saddam. In the hall-of-mirrors atmosphere of Baghdad, one's duties to the state are done and overdone, and Ibrahim Galeb al-Mansur continues to serve the ministry of culture as a muralist (huge Saddams) even after five soldiers of the Republican Guard break into his apartment and gang rape Shalira al-Mahoudi, his fiancée. Meanwhile, Daniella Burkett, of the London Times, braves the nightly bombardments to spend time with her lover, the New York Times's Michael Young. Michael's visit to the hospital where his government minder, Quadro, is recuperating (he stepped on a mine) serves to draw Michael into a web of partisan intrigue—he makes and loses friends virtually simultaneously, and, in time, makes the rare acquaintance of his own better self. Shalira finds herself pregnant with a rapist's child and spares Ibrahim's honor by taking her own life. In response, Ibrahim takes over the leadership of polyglot local dissidents. Mullaney's is that rare war narrative that doesn't depend on carnage for the lasting impression it creates; his culture ministry is ultimately a department of the human interior. (May)
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About the Author

JAMES P. MULLANEY lives on Long Island.  He is a graduate of Providence College.  This is his first novel.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Outside the room gunfire has erupted into small explosions. The night has lifted into a state of heightened activity.  Sirens soon follow and fill the streets of this ancient place. This is the sixth night in a row. There is a shutdown and curfew in effect that lasts until late morning. Daniella will have to sneak out like a Gypsy, a reference she despises, if she decides not to stay the night.
            But I am far away and safe. I am lost in the aroma of perfume off her bare neck. Its scent is like opium and triggers a familiarity I am now playing out along the edges of her dark lips with my fingers. Bombs go off close to the city's limits and their flickering light falls like drops of rain across her body.
            It is Iraq. The year is 1984.