Many and Many a Year Ago

Praise for "Songs My Mother Never Taught Me"

"A deft, zinging whodunnit which is also a metaphysical puzzle worthy of the Oulipo group. Altun's prose has a dreamlike urgency; his novel is a major achievement."--John Ashbery

"This intelligent thriller from Altun, his first to be published in the U.S., nicely evokes modern Istanbul. . . . The lean prose and deft pacing make this more than a routine revenge tale.'"--"Publishers Weekly"

Kemal's friend mysteriously disappears, leaving him a generous allowance and the use of his large house.

He discovers that his new dwelling involves an inheritance of $1.3 million, and a Russian nobleman's missing son. Kemal embarks on a missing person case that will bring chaos and romance to his life.

Clues lead him from Istanbul to Buenos Aires, Boston, and eventually Baltimore, where Kemal visits the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum. There in the museum is a poster announcing the Nevar Foundation's offer of $200,000 to the winner of a first novel competition.

Kemal buys paper and a pen. He has decided to enter the Nevar competition with his first mystery novel, called "Many and Many a Year Ago."

Selcuk Altun was born in Artvin, Turkey, in 1950. Telegram published "Songs My Mother Never Taught Me" in 2008. He lives in Istanbul and is a retired banking executive and bibliophile.