I'jaam: An Iraqi Rhapsody

I'jaam: An Iraqi Rhapsody

<div><p>An inventory of the General Security headquarters in central Baghdad reveals an obscure manuscript. Written by a young man in detention, the prose moves from prison life, to adolescent memories, to frightening hallucinations, and what emerges is a portrait of life in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.</p><p>In the tradition of Kafka’s <I>The Trial</I> or Orwell’s <I>1984, I’jaam</I> offers insight into life under an oppressive political regime and how that oppression works. This is a stunning debut by a major young Iraqi writer-in-exile.</p><p> <B>Sinan Antoon</B> has been published in leading international journals and has co-directed <I>About Baghdad,</I> an acclaimed documentary about Iraq under US occupation.</p></div>