Something Funny to Write About is a
collection of thirteen short stories set in modern Turkey by acclaimed Turkish
author Deniz Kavukçuoğlu. The
cast of characters includes Turks, Armenians, Greeks and Kurds, among them an
Armenian barber who uses a pomegranate to give his neighbour a lesson in inter-community
relations, a Greek woman who finds—but is not reunited with—the daughter she
thought was dead, and a man who inadvertently helps someone finish a report by falling
out of a window. The title story is about a career diplomat who has promised to
write something funny for a child and spends a long time searching for
something among the humourless incidents of his life until he comes to the
bittersweet realisation that his whole life has been one big comedy.
Age range: 16+
Something Funny to Write About is a
collection of thirteen short stories set in modern Turkey by acclaimed Turkish
author Deniz Kavukçuoğlu. The
cast of characters includes Turks, Armenians, Greeks and Kurds, among them an
Armenian barber who uses a pomegranate to give his neighbour a lesson in inter-community
relations, a Greek woman who finds—but is not reunited with—the daughter she
thought was dead, and a man who inadvertently helps someone finish a report by falling
out of a window. The title story is about a career diplomat who has promised to
write something funny for a child and spends a long time searching for
something among the humourless incidents of his life until he comes to the
bittersweet realisation that his whole life has been one big comedy.
Age range: 16+
