The Taste of Spider – Memoirs of an Iranian Soldier is based on the author’s life during the Iran-Iraq-war in the late 1980s.

“If he eats this disgusting spider I’ll make sure he gets an extra week’s leave!”

These words of a cruel lieutenant spark the young sergeant’s steadfast determination to get just a few days of peace…

This eyewitness account of a crucial period in recent Middle Eastern history includes Saddam Hussein bombing oil wells – and the international community turning a blind eye to the use of chemical weapons.

But whether getting his first kiss from a nurse, mourning a fallen comrade or writing poetry this is also the tale of an utterly human hero in utterly inhuman conditions.

Humor and wit comprise the author’s survival kit when laying bare the terrible war in these terribly funny short stories.

Mehrdad Zamani was born in Iran in 1969. He studied humanities until doing military service. In 1992 he fled to Denmark where he presently lives. The Taste of Spider is his debut.