My Father's Notebook: Canons

Kader Abdolah (a pen name created in memoriam to friends who died under persecution by the current Iranian regime) was born in Iran in 1954. While a student of physics in Tehran, he joined a secret leftist party that fought against the dictatorship of the shah and the subsequent dictatorship of the ayatollahs. Abdolah wrote for an illegal journal and clandestinely published two books in Iran. In 1988, he arrived in the Netherlands as a political refugee. Kader Abdolah is the author of several books, including the novels My Father's Notebook, The House of the Mosque and most recently The King which has been longlisted for the 2016 International DUBLIN Literary Award. He has received several awards, including the Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres decoration in 2008.

“A field guide to present day Iran... MY FATHER’S NOTEBOOK is a winning, courtly tale of Persian culture.” — Buffalo News
“Wonderful... Blends contemporary realism with Persian folklore, mirroring Iran’s... history through the eyes of a father and his son.” — Houston Chronicle
“MY FATHER’S NOTEBOOK, a lovely novel, has the cadence of a fairy tale and the clarity of truth .” — Wall Street Journal
“A storyteller of utmost subtlety and natural ease.” — Times Literary Supplement
“Moving and illuminating . . . The history of Iran in the 20th century glints through.” — Publishers Weekly
“An intimate portrait... Abdolah’s prose... is clean and lyrical... A sweeping novel that chronicles the tumultuous modern history of [Iran].” — Kirkus Reviews
“Myth and unlovely reality meet and mingle... Conveys the heartache of an exile who cannot help but feel a traitor.” — Christian Science Monitor
“Beautiful and poetic.” — Library Journal
“Remarkable . . . Moving, dreamlike . . . Scenes are beautifully rendered.” — Providence Journal