“An important new novel, not-to-be-missed… A sharply observed, painfully intimate and illuminating vision of Iran that will be invaluable to readers.” — Joyce Carol Oates

“I found Amir Arian’s Then the Fish Swallowed Him a strange and startling vision written with the ferocity of an endangered artist and the lyric eloquence of a master. The world conjured up in these pages will haunt the reader with a real, palpable but entertaining dread much like the Iranian classic, The Blind Owl. It is a debut of genuine brilliance and wit.” — Chigozie Obioma, Man Booker Shortlisted author of The Fisherman and An Orchestra of Minorities