The little miracles that saved Kaveh Akbar, author of ‘Martyr!’, one of the novels of the year
After a dazzling career in poetry, the Iranian American author makes his novelist debut with a story based on his alcoholic recovery and the experiences of his family, who migrated to the US
One day during the first act of Kaveh Akbar’s life, the man who is today a poet and novelist held a bag full of whiskey and beer in one hand while with the other, he drunkenly steered his bicycle. A car passed in front of him, he hit the rear break of his bike and fell to the ground. He didn’t immediately realize it, but he’d just shattered his pelvis. Akbar managed to call a friend, who came to pick him up, lugging his tall, thin frame back to the writer’s apartment. Once there, they didn’t stop until they’d drank all the alcohol.
