{"product_id":"scenes-from-early-life-9780865478053","title":"Scenes from Early Life","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Beautifully packed with detail . . . Does for Bangladesh what Rushdie did for India.\" --\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Sunday Times\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the Man Booker-short-listed author of \u003ci\u003eThe Northern Clemency\u003c\/i\u003e, a family and a nation--Bangladesh--are forged through storytelling, conversation, jokes, feuds, blood, songs, bravery, and sacrifice.\u003cbr\u003e In late 1970 a boy named Saadi is born into a large, defiantly Bengali family in eastern Pakistan. Months later the country splits in two in what will become one of the most ferocious twentieth-century civil wars. Saadi tells the story of his childhood and of the ingenious ways his family survived the violence and conflicts: from his aunts stuffing him with sweets to stop marauding soldiers from hearing him cry, to street games based on American television shows; from the basement compartment his grandfather built to hide his treasured books, pictures, and music until after the war, to the daily gossip about each and every one of the relatives, servants, and neighbors. \u003ci\u003eScenes from Early Life \u003c\/i\u003eis a beautifully detailed novel of profound empathy--an attempt to capture the collective memory of a family and a country. \u003cbr\u003e At once heartbreaking and surprisingly funny, \u003ci\u003eScenes from Early Life \u003c\/i\u003eis based on the life of Philip Hensher's husband, and as such it is at once a memoir, a novel, and a history. As this remarkable writer brings the past to life, we come to feel, vividly and viscerally, that Saadi's family--and its struggles and triumphs--are our own.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Farrar Strauss \u0026amp; Giroux-3pl\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/07\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780865478053\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 312\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.85lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.82h x 5.79w x 0.83d","brand":"Philip Hensher","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":38471078248629,"sku":"9780865478053","price":20.39,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_01b3b7a1-ed5c-4900-9237-59ee23d7e953.jpg?v=1612928284","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/scenes-from-early-life-9780865478053","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}