Critical Praise

"Rooftops of Tehran combines a coming of age love story with a compelling tale of struggle against dictatorship. You learn a lot about Iranian culture while coming to understand characters with universal appeal."

—Reese Erlich, author of The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of US Policy and the Middle East Crisis

"Beyond being a bittersweet love story, Rooftops of Tehran is a story of community. No reader will be unfamiliar to the situation of the alley --- the neighborhood --- where these characters are united and bound together by history, ritual, grief, respect, and by the bond of protection that arises under the brutality of an oppressive government. Rooftops of Tehran takes an uncommon and refreshing view of Iran in modern American fiction... and also reveals how an American immigrant is born out of a young foreigner's desperation for self-determination and social freedom."

—Susanne Pari, author of The Fortune Catcher

"Mr. Seraji has done a tremendous job in developing the characters in this novel....His descriptions of simple friendships of youth and pure unadulterated love are simply magnificent."

—Nasim Bagheri, Iranian.com

"Repression and revolution provide the background for a deeply felt love story that gives outsiders a rare look inside modern Iran. This is a gripping account of a nation's violent lurch from one kind of tyranny to another, and also a delicately insightful portrait of how ordinary people react when their worlds suddenly collapse. At a time when we urgently need to know more about Iranians, Rooftops of Tehran introduces both the complexity of their political history and the richness of their emotional lives."

——Stephen Kinzer, author of All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror

"Rooftops of Tehran is a poignant and nuanced portrait of the generation driven to revolution by the oppression and hubris of the Pahlavi regime. It is also a gripping tale of love that transcends boundaries and cultures."

—Nahid Mozaffari, editor of Strange Times, My Dear: The PEN Anthology of Contemporary Iranian Literatur

"Rooftops of Tehran is a richly rendered first novel about courage, sacrifice, and the bonds of friendship and love. In clear, vivid details, Mahbod Seraji opens the door to the fascinating world of Iran and provides a revealing glimpse into the life and customs of a country on the verge of a revolution. A captivating read."

—Gail Tsukiyama, author of The Street of a Thousand Blossoms and The Samurai’s Garden

"A stirring story about the loss of innocence, Rooftops of Tehran reveals a side of Iran understood by few Westerners. An ambitious first novel --- full of humor, originality, and meaning."

—John Shors, author of Beneath a Marble Sky

"In his haunting debut novel, Mahbod Seraji brings humor and humanity to a story of secret love in the brutal last days of the Shah…Pasha’s and Zari’s story shows that love and hope among the young thrive even in the most oppressive of times."

—Sandra Dallas, author of Tallgrass

"Captivating... [Seraji's] novel is very cinematic, not only in how it portrays the close-knit neighborhood of the main characters... but also in the way the story builds momentum... at its core, the novel is a compelling coming-of-age story. "

——San Francisco Chronicle

"Refreshingly filled with love rather than sex, this coming-of-age novel examines the human cost of political repression."

——Kirkus, May 2009

"...charmingly romantic. Seraji captures the thoughts and emotions of a young boy and creates a moving portrait of the history and customs of the Persians and life in Iran during this period."

——Publishers Weekly

"Told in Pasha’s unique voice and partially in flashback, Seraji’s wonderful coming-of-age story is at times funny and sweet as well as thought-provoking and heart-wrenching."

——Booklist