1979

Teheran, 1979: The situation in the city is complicated and unpredictable. It is the eve of the Islamic revolution – the uprising of the supporters of Ayatollah Khomeini against the Shah and his western regime. The narrator, a young German interior architect, and his well-educated, cynical friend Christopher, who is in frail health, travel through Iran all the way to Teheran listening to music of Devo and Blondie. Tanks can be seen at traffic junctions, but the protagonists ignore them. They rather talk about men’s sandals and sofa pillowcases. That is why both go to hell. In his novel 1979, the author orchestrates in a dry-dust tone a post-modern grotesque that leaves behind strangely disturbing images. Using an extremely disciplined, infatuating language, Christian Kracht sucks the reader into the story about the end of the civilization. There is no way out.