Jamil Ahmad was born in 1930 and died in 2014. He joined the Civil Service of Pakistan in 1954 and served mainly in the Frontier Province and Baluchistan. He was also development commissioner for the Frontier and chairman of the Tribal Development Corporation, and was posted as minister in Pakistan's embassy in Kabul at a critical time, before and during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. He lived in Islamabad with his wife, Helga Ahmad, a nationally recognized environmentalist and social worker.
"Superb. The work of a gifted story teller who has lived in the
world of his fiction, and who offers his readers rare insight,
wisdom and-above all- pleasure." – Mohsin Hamid, author of Moth
Smoke and The Reluctant Fundamentalist
"I’ve been talking about this book to anyone who will listen. From
page one, I was transported to a land of nomadic tribes who live
and die by ancestral codes. But The Wandering Falcon is not only
about tribes. It is about honor, love, loyalty, and grace. And it
is about borders--geographical, political, and personal. The
terrain where Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan meet may be cruel and
unforgiving, but every page of this book is filled with beauty and
humanity. By the final pages, I found myself transformed." – Nami
Mun, author of Miles from Nowhere
"I've been talking about this book to anyone who will listen. From
page one, I was transported to a land of nomadic tribes who live
and die by ancestral codes. But The Wandering Falcon is not only
about tribes. It is about honor, love, loyalty, and grace. And it
is about borders--geographical, political, and personal. The
terrain where Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan meet may be cruel and
unforgiving, but every page of this book is filled with beauty and
humanity. By the final pages, I found myself transformed." – The
New York Times
"[Y]ou instantly care so much about that boy and his fate that you
can hardly stand to stop reading. The early chapters are
reminiscent of masterpieces like Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian,
which also features a boy alone in a gorgeous but harsh and often
terrifying desert landscape.... [T]he characters, the tales, and
the landscape are rendered with clarity, sympathy, and insight. The
author makes us travel with him.... The book offers a rich picture
of the "mountainous, lawless tribal areas" we have previously known
mainly for bullets and bombs." – Steve Inskeep, NPR
"A striking debut...The power and beauty of these stories are
unparalleled in most fiction to come out of south Asia." – The
Guardian
"[W]ritten with such a terrible beauty...With this novel Ahmad has
followed Mark Twain''s advice to write what he knows. And what he
know is all the more fiction-worthy for his lived experience among
these hardy people, much feared and little known...Highly
accomplished first novel...Elegiac voice...They are neither
romanticized nor vilified but shown in all their terrible,
resilient beauty." – The Independent (UK)
"Tautly written... Fantastic... Drawn with tenderness but without
sentimentality... Ahmad is a deft storyteller and his slim volume
possesses a strong allure." – Financial Times
"Outstanding...The novel is more than a beautifully written piece
of fiction; it is a socio-anthropological account of a tribal
landscape that is changing rapidly. Executed brilliantly...This is
a book worth more than its weight in gold." – Business World
India
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