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GOODBYE IRAN

A native of Tehran, Hossein Tirgan lived through the late 1970s revolution and the Iran-Iraq war. In "Goodbye Iran" (ISBN 0985655305), Tirgan retells the true story of two young men and a young woman whose bright futures face being extinguished forever thanks to a government-imposed draft at the peak of the war between Iran and Iraq.

Hamid is a high school graduate who, like many others who are unwilling to serve in the military, wants nothing to do with the war. Meanwhile, Hossein is another young man who, like Hamid, has the weight of the military draft pressing heavily upon him. Graduating from medical school in the near future, Hossein and Afsaneh must find a way to escape Iran and the ongoing war while continuing their academic endeavors.

In "Goodbye Iran", readers watch the relationship develop between Hossein and Hamid, as the soon-to-be medical professional introduces the recent high school graduate to a way out of the war: illness. After contracting the illness that will take him out of eligibility for the war, the pair plans to leave Iran for medical treatment. Readers also see Hossein and Afsaneh dealing with serious problems that most westerners never have to deal with. Readers get acquainted with some of the history and traditions of this several thousand year-old nation. With more than thirty illustrations, the author shows readers the events as he himself experienced and envisioned them.

The door loomed menacingly ahead. As they got closer, Hossein and Afsaneh hesitantly released the grip they could have held for hours. They grimaced as they physically distanced themselves from each other. Before they reached the door both replaced their expressions with impassive countenances that allowed them to blend in with all the others out on the street. Their faces no longer represented their inner beings; instead, they were merely masks that hid a secret whose revelation would provoke negative consequences. They knew that the key to survival in that environment was assimilation. They had to stop smiling, had to stop feeling free, and had to act and look as if they were also two depressed human beings, deprived of their basic rights. It was only with that appearance that their immediate society would accept them. Any open display of happiness, including showing affection in public, had been seized from Iranians, to be replaced only with sadness, emptiness, and a sense of loss."