Subway Vendor

The novella ‘Subway Vendor’ is derived from the daily notes of a man named Mahmoud Ghorbani, which were compiled and turned into a story by his wife. Mahmoud Ghorbani, a mediocre math-physics student with a diploma and an average grade of ten, had a deep interest in fiction and plays but took up selling toothbrushes, maps, toothpaste, batteries, and headphones in the subway to make ends meet. Moving out of his parental home to write, he settled in a small twenty-meter room at a freight garage owned by his uncle Kazem to write a screenplay in peace. The story, spanning twelve years, is divided into three chapters, with the second chapter consisting of thirty-nine parts. It begins at a friendly gathering where the hostess reads a story she wrote to her husband, who is housebound with a broken leg. The reader discovers by the end of the story—right as the party starts—that Mahmoud Ghorbani is the injured man, and his wife is Mahtab Atefi, a secretary to a film producer. She had repeatedly witnessed Ghorbani’s screenplays being rejected while observing his vending tools at the office of a prominent producer during his rare allowed meetings. This straightforward, contemporary, unpretentious novella consists of 191 pages with a familiar structure, simple language, and a consistent agreement with its readers until the end. The narrative mostly focuses on the situation of subway vendors, their camaraderie, rivalries, mutual understanding, and conflicts. It also touches on the reactions of officials, guards, the ban on vulnerable groups—including some disabled individuals, elderly people, and particularly teenagers—from vending in the subway. The text veers toward a sociological critique, addressing hidden unemployment, lack of specialized jobs among the workforce, and societal issues.