In this dark satire, Ahmed Saadawi creates a monster that needs human flesh to survive - first from the guilty, then from anyone in its path. Translated by Jonathan Wright.

From the rubble-strewn streets of US-occupied Baghdad, the junk dealer Hadi collects human body parts and stitches them together to create a corpse. His goal, he claims, is for the government to recognize the parts as people and give them a proper burial. But when the corpse goes missing, a wave of eerie murders sweeps the city, and reports stream in of a horrendous-looking criminal who, though shot, cannot be killed.

Shortlisted
The Man Booker International Prize 2018
Published by
Oneworld
Publication date
Ahmed Saadawi

Ahmed Saadawi

About the Author

Ahmed Saadawi was born in Baghdad, Iraq, in May 1973.

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Jonathan Wright

About the Translator

Jonathan Wright was born in Hampshire, England, in December 1953.
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Other nominated books by Jonathan Wright

Jokes for the Gunmen