Tales of Love and Despair — Mahnaz Kousha

This is a collection of true short stories about Iranian men, based on in-depth interviews. The stories explore intimate family relationships in a society that itself was going through dramatic revolutionary turmoil. Love is the dominant theme. The men range in age from twenty-nine to seventy-eight. The reader will become familiar with the Iran of the 1970's through 90's when the Revolution drastically changed the culture. To the dramas of family relationships, revolutionary edicts were added that handcuffed the youth and frustrated them for over two decades. The collection uncovers the lost hopes of a generation. The reader will discover that life goes on in spite of extraordinary circumstances, that no one was untouched by the Revolution, that tremendous sacrifices were made by both men and women in order to live a life that was not of their own choosing.