psychoraag
Publication date: 29 April 2004
Price: £15.99 (hbk)
PRESS RELEASE
 Taking
place during the six hours of a radio broadcast, PSYCHORAAG
tells the mythic, yet utterly modern tale of Zaf, a raga-rock
DJ who finds the ghosts of his – and his family’s
– past catching up with him during his last night
on air. Mesmerised by the rain outside and the freedom that
comes with the end of an era, Zaf has decided that, for
this final night, he will take no requests. Tonight, he
will play the songs his parents listened to in Pakistan;
the pop records which became the soundtrack to his love
affairs; the backing music to all his hopes and fears. As
the boundaries between Zaf’s memories and his spoken
broadcast begin to dissolve, a compelling story emerges.
It’s a story that takes us back to his parents’
turbulent past in Pakistan and out on to the streets of
Glasgow, where the disillusionment of the Asian community
threatens to erupt into violence and heroin is the panacea
for unfulfilled lives.
Drawing the reader deeper and deeper
into the Scots-Asian world of Zaf and the other inhabitants
of Radio Chaandnii, Saadi uses a blending of rhythm and
languages that is unlike any writer before him. The mythical
and the everyday; the real and the surreal; the past and
the present – in PSYCHORAAG all of these elements
are there, sometimes combining, sometimes fragmenting, but
always to fascinating and gripping effect.
A ferocious, psychedelic rock song.
A breathy Urdu ghazal. A bloody Caledonian lament. PSYCHORAAG
is a dark night of the soul, set to a raga-rock soundtrack.
Born in Yorkshire but now living
in Glasgow, Suhayl Saadi is a novelist, poet and award-winning
short-story writer. His collection of short stories, The
Burning Mirror, received wide critical acclaim – with
one story from it winning second prize in the Macallan/Scotland
on Sunday Short Story Competition in 1999.
Praise for The Burning Mirror
His is such a unique voice in Scottish
literature it is impossible not to get swept up in his many
experiments with form and content . . . that Scottish/Asian
musical rhythm sings through
in every line.
Paul Dale, The List
The vibrancy of Saadi’s writing
is itself a burning mirror to that of Scottish writing as
a whole.
David Robinson, The Scotsman
SUHAYL SAADI
IS AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWs
For further information and/or to
request a review copy, please contact:
Gina McWatt (Mon–Fri)
Tel: 0131 625 4500 E-mail: gina@blackandwhitepublishing.com
Alison McBride
(Tue, Wed, Thurs)
Tel: 0131 625 4503 E-mail: ali@blackandwhitepublishing.com
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