Mullah with No Legs and Other Stories: And Other Stories

In this straightforward debut collection of linked stories, Iranian emigre Siletz writes of a boy growing up in a wealthy family in the Tehran suburbs before the ousting of Shah Reza Pahlavi in 1979. The strength of these stories lies in their detached style, their brutal honesty and their realistic descriptions of life in a country where a journey between cities is an almost medieval sortie on unpaved roads beset by highway robbers. Siletz's cynical understanding of the symbiotic relationship between rich and poor is illustrated by the tale of Aunt Monavar, who beat her servant girl, Zari. ``Monavar collapsed into the cushions. . . . Zari, convinced that Monavar was dying, threw herself on the ground and begged Allah to spare her mistress.'' While the prose style is pedestrian, Siletz's views illuminate Iranian perceptions, such as the protagonist's at once submissive and rebellious relationship with his father: ``Usually no meant no on pain of the whip. But it seemed that, here, I had power over him. He was being forced to submit to my demand.'' Siletz, who now resides in California, faithfully portrays the lives of friends and relatives left behind in Iran but never lets his imagination soar. (June)