Sons of the Rumour

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Picador Australia, Nov 1, 2009 - Fiction - 448 pages

Sons of the Rumour is nothing short of a dazzling and genre-defying work of genius. Foster retells the tale of the legendary eighth-century King Shahrban of Persia who, furious at his wife's infidelity, has decided to marry and then behead a fresh virgin every day. But then the king meets Scheherazade, a beauty of such wiles and storytelling gifts she manages to entertain the him for 1001 nights, staving off death for both herself and her countrywomen. In the process, she also bears him three sons, wisely educates him in morality and kindness, and eventually convinces him to take her as his lawful wife.

Intersecting with the historical tale is the story of Al Morrisey - a middle-aged, Anglo-Irish, former jazz-drumming everyman, on the run from a failed marriage, and cursed with Freudian daydreams of his mother and peculiar nightmares of all things Persian - as he vainly attempts to reconcile the past with the present and reclaim some of his youthful vigour.

Ingeniously manipulating the frame tale of the Arabian Nights, and utilising all his narrative gifts of adventurous satire, David Foster has produced a work of fiction like no other. Sprawling, ambitious, explicit but frequently hilarious, Sons of the Rumour is a modern masterpiece, an utterly original novel by one of Australia's greatest living writers, a man who the Sydney Morning Herald critic Andrew Riemer has called Patrick White's worthy successor.

 

Selected pages

Contents

Arabian Nights
1
Iranian Days
3
The Fire Lamb
9
Iranian Days continued
16
The Mine in the Moon
29
Iranian Days continued
37
The Tears of the Fish
47
Iranian Days continued
66
Iranian Days continued
204
The Tunic of Santa Eulalia
214
Iranian Days continued
231
Cartouche Chiseldorf
253
Iranian Days continued
272
Forbidden Transitions from Crystalline Kingdoms
285
Iranian Days continued
385
Blue Melons
392

The Gilt Felt Yurt
75
Iranian Days continued
115
The Man Who Fell in Love with His Own Feet
134
Iranian Days continued
159
Hashim Wali Abu Muslim
179
Iranian Days concluded
419
Authors Note
423
Legend
427
Copyright

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About the author (2009)

David Foster's many books include the novels Plumbum, Mates of Mars and the Miles Franklin Award-winning The Glade Within the Grove, as well as the non-fiction book A Year of Slow Food. He divides his time between the NSW Southern Highlands and Cronulla.

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