Description

About The Book

Bombay Stories is a collection of short stories, originally written in Urdu by Saadat Hasan Manto. This translated version, by Matt Reeck and Aftab Ahmad, makes these stories accessible to a much wider audience.

Bombay Stories is set in the 1930s and 1940s, when the author had just arrived in the city. The stories speak about actors, prostitutes, intellectuals, conmen and more. For example, In Ten Rupees, a 15-year old prostitute is taken out by three older men on a drive to the beach. As readers expect this young Sarita to become a victim, the tables turn on the men! Another tale in Bombay Stories focuses on how a man is outraged and feels insulted at the sight of a woman who has not covered up in front of him. Manto then introduces a visitor to Bombay, who is amazed to see the city filled with both shrines, as well as houses of pleasure. He asks a rich sap named Babu Gopi Nath why this is so. Babus reply will make readers smile. Many stories in Bombay Stories are set in the Hindi film industry

About The Author

Saadat Hasan Manto, born in 1912, was an India-born Pakistani writer. He wrote short stories, essays, radio plays and film scripts. Some of his best known works include Khol Do, Bu and Thanda Gosht. Manto moved to Bombay in 1936 and edited a monthly film magazine called Musawwir. In 1941, he joined the All India Radio to write Urdu Service. In 1948, the writer moved to Lahore, Pakistan. He passed away in 1955. on the fiftieth anniversary of his death, in 2005, Manto was commemorated on a Pakistani postage stamp…