The Selected Works of Abdullah the Cossack

H.M. Naqvi’s The Selected Works of Abdullah the Cossack is an enthralling novel about one unforgettable, gloriously unaccomplished man and his quest for meaning. Abdullah, bachelor and scion of a once-prominent family, wakes on the morning of his seventieth birthday and considers launching himself over the balcony. Having spent years attempting to compile a ‘mythopoetic legacy’ of his beloved ‘Currachee’, the cosmopolitan heart of Pakistan, Abdullah has lost his zeal. A surprise invitation for a night out from his old friend Felix Pinto snaps Abdullah out of his funk and saddles him with a ward – Pinto’s adolescent grandson Bosco. While playing mentor to Bosco, Abdullah also attracts the romantic attentions of Jugnu, an enigmatic siren with links to the mob. At the same time, Abdullah’s brothers plot to evict him from the family estate. Now he must to try to save his home – or face losing his last connection to his familial past. Anarchic, erudite and rollicking, with a protagonist like no other, The Selected Works of Abdullah the Cossack is a joyride of a story set against a kaleidoscopic portrait of one of the most vibrant cities in the world.