A fearlessly original and urgently necessary novel of linked stories that give voice to the unsung lives of the 'guest workers' of the Persian Gulf.
In the United Arab Emirates, foreign nationals are shipped in to construct towering monuments that punctuate the skylines of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. They work without the rights of citizenship and endure miserable living conditions. The humanitarian crisis of the "guest workers" of the Gulf is finally addressed in this stunning debut which delves into their histories, struggles, and triumphs. .
"Deepak Unnikrishnan uses linguistic pyrotechnics to tell the story of forced transience in the Arabian Peninsula, where citizenship can never be earned no matter the commitment of blood, sweat, years of life, or brains. The accoutrements of migration-languages, body parts, passports, losses, wounds, communities of strangers-are packed and carried along with ordinary luggage, blurring the real and the unreal with exquisite skill. Unnikrishnan sets before us a feast of absurdity that captures the cruel realities around the borders we cross either by choice or by force. In doing so he has found what most writers miss: the sweet spot between simmering rage at a set of circumstances, and the circumstances themselves."
-Ru Freeman, author of On Sal Mal Lane
