Sarfraz Manzoor: Greetings from Bury Park (2007)

Chapter One. My Father’s House (pp. 1 – 55)

  1. Describe Mohammed Manzoor’s arrival in England. His expectations – his life – his work. In what way was his case typical for the Asian immigrants in the 60s and early 70s.
  2. When did the whole family come to Britain?
  3. Describe father Manzoor’s basic values. How did they shape his life and his role and relationship with his family?
  4. Describe Sarfraz’s relationship with his father/family? – How does he basically define himself?
  5. Why did the family decide to move to Marsh Farm in 1979?
  6. What was every meaningful conversation during Safraz’s childhood about? How did he feel about it? (p. 35)
  7. What happened to his father in 1986? How did his father feel about it? (pp. 36-37, 38)
  8. What keeps Sarfraz from openly rebelling against his father (family)? (p. 40)
  9. Why was the discovery of Bruce Springsteen at college so meaningful for Sarfraz? (pp. 40 – 41)
  10. What is the song “Independence Day” about? –How did it slowly change his view of his father?
  11. When did he start university and where did he study? (p. 42) What did going to university mean for him? What did it mean for his family? (pp. 42- 43)
  12. Sarfraz’s new hairstyle – what?/Why? – Family reactions (p. 44)
  13. How old was Sarfraz when his father died? How did his father’s death affect him/change him?
  14. What is Sarfraz’s job ambition?
  15. What do you make of the last sentence of the first chapter: “These days I am a willing prisoner of my father’s house.” (p. 54)

Chapter 2: Ties that bind (pp. 55 – 87)

  1. Considering his life, what does Sarfraz consider as “two strokes of incredible luck” and why?
  2. Create a profile of Sohail, Navela and Uzma. Focus both on facts and their dreams and ambitions.
  3. Why is Sarfraz’s father disappointed with Sohail?
  4. The relationship between the two brothers deteriorates after their father’s death. Why?
  5. Luton Actually helped to improve the relationship between the two brothers again. Why?
  6. What does Sarfraz mean when he says on p. 86 “I could be the archetypal younger son because he was the archetypal older brother: I owed him my life.”
  7. Comment on the title and song lines that introduce chapter 2.

Chapter Three: Blood brothers (pp.88 -122)

  1. Create a profile of Amolak. (Again focus on facts, his dreams, attitudes, ambitions)
  2. Describe Sarfraz’ first contact with Bruce Springsteen’s music.
  3. What fascinates him (and later Sarfraz himself) about the boss – Bruce Springsteen?
  4. Amolak tries to explain the generation conflict in many immigrant families (pp. 98 – 99) What is his point here?
  5. What makes the friendship between Sarfraz and Amolak so special to them?

Chapter Four: The Promised Land (pp. 123 – 156)

  1. Concentrate again on what you find out about growing up in Pakistani family in England. What effect does it have on your identity – the development of your identity?
  2. The fascination and dangers of the cinema.
  3. America starts to fascinate the young Sarfraz? Why does it seem much more appealing than Britain where he is growing up?
  4. Describe his American experience.

Chapter Five: Factory (pp. 154 – 177)

  1. Chapter Five focuses on “work”. What did his father work for? What were his expectations and dreams?
  2. Explain Sarfraz’s attitude and view on work. What is his dream job? When and how did he manage to get it?
  3. In writing his autobiography Sarfraz Manzoor decided to undertake a journey back into his childhood and teenage years. What were his motives? What could he gain and/or lose by doing so?

Chapter Six: Better Days (pp. 178 – 211)

  1. Describe Sarfraz’s parents’ marriage? What is it built on?
  2. How did his own upbringing and his childhood experiences shape his own views and attitudes towards marriage and love? What role did Bruce Springsteen start to play in this context?
  3. Is integration into British society ever an option for Sarfraz’ s father? Why yes? Why no? (p. 191)
  4. What is again his strategy of coping with too much stress and pressure?
  5. What was becoming his biggest fear as he and also his friend Amolak were growing older?
  6. On p. 200 Sarfraz says that he was leading an “intensely schizophrenic life”. Explain.
  7. On p. 204 he calls himself “a rebel without a clue” – word game on the saying “a rebel without a cause”. Explain.
  8. Again how did his documentary Luton Actually help to improve his relationship with his family also in this area? – What seems to become a feasible (possible) option.
  9. Sarfraz says at the end of this chapter that “his life had been a journey from fear”. Comment.
  10. What was/is the main focus of this chapter? – What do you make out of the opening song lines?

Chapter Seven: Reason to believe (pp. 212 – 239)

  1. What did being a Muslim mean for the child and teenage Sarfraz? – What did religion seem to be all about?
  2. To what extent does religion again set him apart and make him a sort of outsider in both parallel universes he is living in (his family – the world outside: school, friends, society)?
  3. Being a “fake”, feeling like a “fake” is a permanent worry for the young Sarfraz why? Why is so difficult for him to be authentic, to be himself?
  4. What did you find out about the Islam and the Koran? List some interesting information.
  5. Compare and contrast Sarfraz’s view of Islam and religion with the one held by his parents.
  6. Why was Bruce Springsteen like a religion for him?
  7. Sarfraz permanently seems to leading a double existence – what’s the effect on his psyche?
  8. Sarfraz never considered atheism an option and calls it a “cold and soulless road to travel” (p. 231). Comment.
  9. On page 233 Sarfraz asks himself the provocative question “What did religion matter?” – After having read the whole chapter – answer this question for Sarfraz!
  10. On page 235 Sarfraz states “Osama bin Laden changed my life”. Explain.
  11. Describe the impact of 9/11 on Sarfraz and the Muslim community.
  12. The song “Worlds Apart” from the album The Rising cries out an important message. What is it?
  13. Again Sarfraz ‘s journey has reached a possible destination. What is it?

Chapter eight: Land of hope and dreams (pp. 240 – 269)

  1. What does the title refer to?
  2. Compare and contrast Sarfraz’s and his father’s perception of home and Pakistan.
  3. On page 245 Sarfraz tells us he grew up believing that there were two choices as far as identity were concerned. What were they? Why did both equally prove inadequate?
  4. For Sarfraz’s father keeping the contacts with Pakistan is very important also because of very concrete reasons/fears. What are they? (p. 254) How far-fetched are they?
  5. How did Sarfraz feel as a teenager about his Pakistani roots? – How did he cope with the ensuing dilemma? (p. 255)
  6. Sarfraz compares and contrasts the conservative Thatcher government of the 1980s and early 1990s with the Labour government of Tony Blair after 1997. To what extent did the country of “hope and glory” (nationalist Britishness) seem to become more his country of “hope and dreams”?
  7. Finally Sarfraz seems to have found his home – What is it?
  8. What does Sohail wish for his children? To what extent has he too moved beyond his father?
  9. What happened on 7/7? – Describe Sarfraz’s reactions and his comments.
  10. On pages 265, 267 Sarfraz comments on the different attitudes towards Britain and British society by generations of Pakistani immigrants. Explain.
  • His father’s generation
  • His own generation
  • The next generation: the teenagers and twentysomethings
  1. Sarfraz’s journey in search for himself has not come to an end yet but has reached a very important destination or milestone – How? Why?

Find a heading for each chapter and thus trace Sarfraz’s journey to adulthood and independence: e.g. friendship, family, work …How do they contribute to the whole picture?

Visit Sarfraz Manzoor’s website:

Independence Day – Bruce Springsteen

Well Papa go to bed now it's getting late
Nothing we can say is gonna change anything now
I'll be leaving in the morning from St. Mary's Gate
We wouldn't change this thing even if we could somehow
Cause the darkness of this house has got the best of us
There's a darkness in this town that's got us too
But they can't touch me now
And you can't touch me now
They ain't gonna do to me
What I watched them do to you
So say goodbye it's Independence Day
It's Independence Day
All down the line
Just say goodbye it's Independence Day
It's Independence Day this time
Now I don't know what it always was with us
We chose the words, and yeah, we drew the lines
There was just no way this house could hold the two of us
I guess that we were just too much of the same kind
Well say goodbye it's Independence Day
It's Independence Day all boys must run away
So say goodbye it's Independence Day
All men must make their way come Independence Day
Now the rooms are all empty down at Frankie's joint
And the highway she's deserted down to Breaker's Point
There's a lot of people leaving town now
Leaving their friends, their homes
At night they walk that dark and dusty highway all alone
Well Papa go to bed now it's getting late
Nothing we can say can change anything now
Because there's just different people coming down here now
and they see things in different ways
And soon everything we've known will just be swept away
So say goodbye it's Independence Day
Papa now I know the things you wanted that you could not say
But won't you just say goodbye it's Independence Day
I swear I never meant to take those things away

List of songs:

  1. My father’s house
  2. Prove it all Night
  3. Bobby Jean
  4. The promised land
  5. Darkness on the edge of town
  6. Born to run
  7. Brilliant disguise
  8. Hungry heart

Worlds apart

Candy Room

Point Blanc