Between Clay and Dust

About the Book:

Ustad Ramzi was once the greatest wrestler in Pakistan, famed for his enormous strength and unmatched technique. Young apprentices flocked to his akhara to learn his craft, fans adored him, and rival wrestling clans feared his resolve that would never admit defeat. The courtesan, Gohar Jan, was just as renowned. Celebrated throughout the country for her beauty, and the power and melodiousness of her singing, her kotha was thronged by nobles, rich men, and infatuated admirers.

Musharraf Ali Farooqi’s new novel opens with a glimpse of these extraordinary characters in the twilight of their lives. Their once formidable skills are no longer so: new challengers have arisen; their followers have melted away; and the adoring crowds are long gone. An immense catastrophe has laid waste to the country, and its new inheritors and rulers have no time for the old ways. Stripped of their former resources and traditionally captivating powers, Ustad Ramzi and Gohar Jan must face their greatest challenge yet.

About the Author:

Musharraf Ali Farooqi was born in 1968 in Hyderabad, Pakistan. His critically acclaimed novel, The Story of a Widow (2009), was shortlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2010. He is the author of the highly acclaimed translations of Urdu classics, Hoshruba (2009) and The Adventures of Amir Hamza (2007); contemporary Urdu poet Afzal Ahmed Syed's selected poetry, Rococo and Other Worlds (2010); and Urdu writer Syed Muhammad Ashraf's novel, The Beast (2010). His children's fiction includes The Amazing Moustaches of Mocchhander the Iron Man and Other Stories (2011), and the picture book, The Cobbler's Holiday Or Why Ants Don't Wear Shoes (2008).