Description:
The three novellas of Farewell, Aylis take place over decades of transition in a country that rather resembles modern-day Azerbaijan.
In Yemen, a Soviet traveler takes an afternoon stroll and finds himself suspected of defecting to America. In Stone Dreams, an actor explores the limits of one man's ability to live a moral life amid conditions of sociopolitical upheaval, ethnic cleansing, and petty professional intrigue. In A Fantastical Traffic Jam, those who serve the aging leader of a corrupt, oil-rich country scheme to stay alive.
Farewell, Aylis, a new essay by the author that reflects on the political firestorm surrounding these novellas and his current situation as a prisoner of conscience in Azerbaijan, was commissioned especially for this Academic Studies Press edition.
Brief description: Akram Aylisli is an Azerbaijani writer, playwright, novelist, and editor. His works have been translated from his native Azeri into more than 20 languages. The 2012 publication of his novella Stone Dreams led to book burnings and the continuous harassment of the author himself. Since 2016 he has lived under a politically motivated criminal investigation and corresponding restrictions on his activities in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Review Quotes:
"Reading Farewell,
Aylis is like sitting by the fire at night with the older men
of the village and listening to their stories, which in truth are the oral
history of a people and a region, which in truth could turn out to be
prophecies of our own lives. ... In [the essay Farewell,
Aylis, Aylisli] writes, 'And I want to serve my motherland not as a patriot
but as a writer.' And that is what he has done with these stories, making him
perhaps the true patriot who does what is truly needed for his country and not
what pleases and flatters. One, however, needs to read him first and foremost
as a writer and be enamored of the allure of his storytelling." --Poupeh
Missaghi, Asymptote