The Selected Works of Abdullah the Cossack

Abdullah; bachelor and scion of a once prominent family; awakes on the morning of his seventieth birthday and considers launching himself over the balcony. Having spent years attempting to compile a "mythopoetic legacy" of his beloved Karachi; the cosmopolitan heart of Pakistan; Abdullah has lost his zeal.

A surprise invitation for a night out from his old friend Felix Pinto snaps Abdullah out of his funk; and saddles him with a ward; Pinto's adolescent grandson Bosco. As Abdullah plays mentor to Bosco; he also attracts the romantic attentions of Jugnu; an enigmatic siren with links to the mob.

All the while Abdullah's brothers' plot to evict him from the family estate. Now he must to try to save his home - or face losing his last connection to his familial past.

Anarchic; erudite; and rollicking; with a septuagenarian protagonist like no other; The Selected Works of Abdullah the Cossack is a joyride of a story set against a kaleidoscopic portrait of one of the world's most vibrant cities.