About Book

Set in Karachi and New York A Matter of Detail is an ironic story of a family and people who's tradition seems to be of rebeling against traditon for the sake of love. This is Maniza Naqvi's fourth novel. It was first published in 2008. Sara Suleri Goodyear (author of Meatless Days, Boys Will Be Boys and The Rhetoric of English India) commented that: "A Matter of Detail is an astonishing text. It is a richly intertwined narrative. Its location is hardly Karachi alone, for the novel is deeply embedded in the convoluted heritage of a multicultural ethos that spans Shia, Sunni, Jewish trajectories, as well as the most secular and militaristic of conflicted capitalisms that plague a benighted and contemporary Pakistan. Maniza Naqvi's luminous novel is far more than a delicate rendition of the cultural relations in a newly independent nation. Instead, it offers a brilliant kaledeidscope of post colonial histories that impel vibrant stories of men and women who are balanced between jagged eras and torn cultures. Naqvi's ironic writing quickens this narrative giving it a translucence that must be read to be experienced." Sabrina Dhawan (Script writer for Monsoon Wedding) commented: "The story is beautiful!...a story of extraordinary nuanced characters and their lives...a history of Karachi, a rememberance of a way of life. It stays with you long, long after you've read the last line." Sabiha Sumar (Film maker and Director of Kamosh Pani: Silent Waters) commented: A very important work that gives us hope and strength to face our turbulent present by recognizing our past...a timely novel full of exquisite details that is so vibrant and alive, like a film." (Cover painting by the author)

About Author

Maniza Naqvi is a novelist and short story writer. She has written four novels: Mass Transit, On Air, Stay with Me, and A Matter of Detail. Sarajevo Saturdays is a collection of her short stories and poems. Her short story ‘An Impossible Shade of Home Brew’ is included in the anthology And Then the World Changed. Her short story "A Brief Acquaintance" is included in the anthology "Neither Night nor Day"; Her short story "Muse" is included in the anthology "Shaping the World. Her play "That Sara Aziz" is included in the anthology Shattering Stereotypes and was produced at the Minneopolis Fringe Festival. Her book A Guest in the House is a memoir also translated in Urdu chronicle's her time at the Pioneer Book House, Karachi and provides a lens into the history of the city. She is a Monday columnist for 3Quarksdaily.com and has contributed essays for the monthly magazine Herald, including an essay on Pakistan’s English fiction. Her new novel completed in 2008, The Inn, will be published in 2021 by Maktaba e Danyal. She has 30 years of Social Protection and Social Development experience managing the preparation and implementation of Social Safety Nets, Community Development and Job Creation programs at the World Bank. Maniza is the Founder and CEO of The Little Book Company.