Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1390502 in Books
• Published on: 2003-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 254 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Parvin's playful debut is a "novel-in-verse," an extended narrative poem written in free verse, which begins when an Iranian academic named Pirooz journeys from New York to the Arizona desert under the weight of a growing despair. As he contemplates ending his life, a pair of cacti assume the forms of the great Persian poets, Rumi and Hafez, and Pirooz begins a freewheeling dialogue, or dardedel, with the two figures on the subjects of art, love, Persian history and modern Iranian politics. Their conversation alleviates Pirooz's suicidal urges, and he heads back to New York. But the restless spirits follow him. Hafez reappears as a Manhattan cabbie, and Rumi takes on various guises, including that of an adolescent Puerto Rican boy. Hafez falls in love with a precocious, poetic 14-year-old named Mitra, who eventually figures out her would-be lover's ancient identity. Pirooz cautions Hafez about the obvious dangers of courting a modern American adolescent, but the irrepressible poet pursues a romance, leading to his arrest and a subsequent trial. The well-balanced chemistry between the three men carries the narrative, and while several scenes get a bit silly-the trial is especially over the top-the story remains reasonably intriguing. Some of the meditative conversations fall flat, but Parvin's dialogues are mostly entertaining, and the author wisely sticks to a lighthearted take on his two legendary reincarnations.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

A Mezmorizing Book
By reincarnating two legendary Persian poets Rumi and
Hafez in New York Dardedel connects East and West,Past and Present and
integrates science, art and spirituality in a brilliant fashion. Dardedel is
very humorous and insightful.

Dardedel--A novel of love and ideas: a 21st C Masterpiece!
Dardedel, a novel in verse, is a masterpiece that one would read again and again. It sparkles with the wisdom and spirituality of the East and the science and rationality of the West. Its love story between the dazzling and brilliant Mitra and the legendary poet rebel Hafez will become a classic of the 21st Century. The other characters in the novel are the poet Rumi, Professor Pirooz, New York and God.

Manoucher Parvin is the 21st-century Rumi!
"Dardedel" is a glorious read -- nourished with whimsy, irony, compelling plot twists and passion. I commend this lovely work of verse to everyone from students of classical Middle Eastern literature to lovers of contemporary fiction. There is something for everyone in Manoucher Parvin's prose.