Behzad Karim Khani's debut about the fate of two brothers combines the harshness of the streets with the melancholy of Iranian prose. "Ten times better than any '4 Blocks.'" (Ijoma Mangold)

After their mother is executed amidst the turmoil of the Iranian Revolution, eleven-year-old Saam and his younger brother Nima flee to Germany with their father. Feeling doubly foreign in the Arab-dominated Neukölln, their father leads a life filled with taxi driving, backgammon, and shame, while Saam tries to take on the role of the head of the family. He fights for respect among the brutal street gangs by any means necessary to protect his brother Nima. Until one day, he goes too far. In his spectacular debut, Behzad Karim Khani writes about the complex fates of revolutionaries, small-time dealers, and knife fighters, developing a unique sound that resonates with both the melancholy of Iranian prose and the toughness of African American rap.