Moon Brow, by Shahriar Mandanipour.

Moon Brow, by Shahriar Mandanipour.   Restless Books, 2018. Translated by Khalili Sara.

A complex symbolic novel about a man wounded by war and searching to find himself by a major Iranian author.

Shahrair Mandanipour (1957- ) born and raised in Shiraz, in southern Iran, where he grew up dreaming of becoming a writer. As a young man he went to Tehran shortly before the Iranian Revolution broke out.  He joined the Iranian army where he sought to be sent to the front because he wanted to know and write about the experience of battle.  After the war, he focused on his writing. He became a major figure in Iranian literature until his work was censored in his own country. He has published a number of novels and short stories.  He has also taught Persian literature at major American universities.

Moon Brow is the story of Amir, a man wounded and traumatized by his service in the Iran-Iraq war. Returning home, he seeks half-consciously to know himself and the world around him. Mandanipour tells his story through intense flashes of his visions and hallucinations.

This is a book for those who value elaborate literary prose.