{"product_id":"i-stared-at-the-night-of-the-city-by-bakhtiyar-ali","title":"'I Stared at the Night of the City' by Bakhtiyar Ali","description":"\u003cp data-end=\"536\" data-start=\"0\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem data-end=\"47\" data-start=\"12\"\u003eI Stared at the Night of the City\u003c\/em\u003e by \u003cspan class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"whitespace-normal\"\u003eBakhtiyar Ali\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e is a novel set against the political and emotional aftermath of war in Iraqi Kurdistan.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"536\" data-start=\"0\"\u003eIt follows a narrator searching for a missing friend—one thread among many in a city saturated with memory, absence, and ruin. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"1039\" data-start=\"538\"\u003eAli’s writing is often described as magical realist, but that flattens what’s actually happening. The novel bends reality without abandoning it—dream logic, coincidence, and symbolic encounters bleed into the everyday, but readers will understand that this is something straightforward realism can’t contain. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"1457\" data-start=\"1041\"\u003eThis is a strong copy for readers of translated fiction who are comfortable sitting inside ambiguity—people who read for texture, for political undercurrents, for the feeling of a place rather than a clean narrative line. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-end=\"1457\" data-start=\"1041\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2016 Periscope (UK) paperback edition, translated from the Sorani Kurdish by Kareem Abdulrahman. As new.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"bower studio","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44507228504147,"sku":null,"price":20.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0689\/0268\/2707\/files\/Untitleddesign-2026-04-19T140132.666.png?v=1776571321","url":"https:\/\/bowerbooks.com\/products\/i-stared-at-the-night-of-the-city-by-bakhtiyar-ali","provider":"bower books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}