This Life or the Next: A Novel

(Hardback)

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From award-winning author Demian Vitanza comes a groundbreaking novel-his first to be translated into English-about one man's alienation, radicalization, and disillusionment on the violent front lines in Syria. Tariq Khan is a Pakistani born and raised in Norway. An outsider in his own country-adrift between two worlds divided by class, race, and culture-he's always been searching for home. Alongside a flock of other streetwise young men, each looking for direction and each easily susceptible, Tariq finds his cause in the Muslim revival. Idealistic, driven by faith, and empowered with purpose, he's drawn to radical Islam-his last resort for achieving a sense of belonging, for embracing and being embraced. It's only when he enlists in the war against Assad that Tariq's eyes are truly opened. Dispirited with the violence, faced with the consequences of his choices, and increasingly distanced by the brutalities of jihad, Tariq contends with spiritual struggles that are his alone. So are the stories he will tell to make sense of his life. In this daring and unprecedented work of literary fiction, Demian Vitanza explores the power of memory, the lure of rebellion, the search for meaning amid chaos-and the toll that such a journey can take before finally finding one's way home.

Reviews

A Liz & Lisa Best Book of the Month [T]his book effectively captures one young mans coming-of-age in a world where he always feels in-between; insightful and engaging. Library Journal A bildungsroman for our troubled times, set in a place where nothing is safe or certain. New York Journal of Books For a reader attempting to understand the vast world of the twenty-first century and to see life from a Muslim perspective, This Life or the Next is a captivating read. Fresh Fiction

Author Bio

Demian Vitanza is a playwright and novelist who has conducted numerous writing workshops, including one for the inmates of Halden Prison in Norway. He is the author of Sub Rosa and the award-winning novel Urak. This Life or the Next is Demians third novel and his first to be translated into English.