Manto: Selected Short Stories, translated by Aatish Taseer, is a brilliant collection of Manto’s best short stories that were originally penned in Urdu.

Summary of the Book

Manto: Selected Short Stories presents some of the best short stories written by the master storyteller. It includes his masterpieces: Toba Tek Singh and The Dog of Tetval. The publication of this collection could not have been timed better, as it is Manto’s centennial. His stories have enduring relevance, which makes them timeless. The characters from his stories will remain with you forever. Most of his works were written against the background of the Partition, but ultimately they transcended all boundaries, bringing out humanism in the end. Aatish Taseer has captured the sensitivities and lyricism of Manto’s voice in Urdu, by beautifully bringing the stories in English for a larger audience.

About the Authors

Saadat Hasan Manto is widely known mostly for his short stories. He was born in Punjab’s Ludhiana district in the year 1912. He spent most of his childhood in Amritsar and finished his schooling there. Manto was always keenly interested in Western literature. He translated a few works of writers like Anton Chekhov, Victor Hugo, and Oscar Wilde into Urdu. While he was at the Aligarh Muslim University, doing his graduation, he joined the Indian Progressive Writers Association, which gave an encouragement to his passion of writing. Manto published his first collection of Urdu short stories in 1936. He then worked as an editor for a film magazine for a few years in Bombay, and got acquainted with many film personalities. Manto moved to Lahore after the Partition and eventually his career became hindered by financial woes. He took to consuming inexpensive alcohol, and passed away due to liver cirrhosis in the year 1955. Some of his most notable books are Naked Voices Stories & Sketches, Stars From Another Sky, Mottled Dawn, For Freedom's Sake: Selected Stories and Sketches, and Partition: Sketches and Stories.

Aatish Taseer was associated with Time as a reporter. He has also written for the Sunday Times, Prospect, the Financial Times, the Sunday Telegraph, TAR Magazine and Esquire. He has authored the book Stranger to History: A Son's Journey through Islamic Lands. Aatish’s novel, The Temple-Goers, was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award in 2010. His second novel is Noon, which was published recently. Aatish’s works have been translated into more than ten different languages.