Christian DeFeo
How does a harmless man end up in prison?
Mr. Wahid Shah is a Londoner of Pakistani descent, an accountant, a devoted husband, a fan of classical music. He is also perpetually on guard against the onslaught of unhygienic terrors from a world full of contagion.
When one day he dons a surgical mask in order to avoid bacteria on the London Underground his quiet life is turned upside down: he is no longer seen as just another citizen but as a dangerous radical. Suddenly a victim of a paranoia incited by the media in the so-called “War on Terror” he is met with violence. Now he is cast into a dark, excruciating journey through cruelty, doubt and disbelief. As hidden traumas emerge, Wahid has to rethink his own past, present and future.
“You may think God has abandoned you, but He has not,” the imam told him. No, abandonment would indicate a lack of interest. Certainly there was too much happening for God to be uninterested. God created the world supposedly because He loved to be known. Perhaps He also loved to be entertained: if so, Wahid was a character on a cosmic gag reel, performing pratfalls and sight gags for His pleasure. Every time he rose up, the heavens knocked him down, landing him on his ever-skinnier buttocks, weakening him with every massive blow.
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Christian DeFeo graduated from the University of Chichester in 2007
with a Masters Degree in Creative Writing. He then moved on to the
University of Southampton, where he studied with the famous Pakistani
author, Aamer Hussein. He was awarded his PhD in Creative Writing in
January 2010. He has also taught novel writing seminars to
Southampton undergraduates. He maintains an active interest in
education and politics as well as literature.