Tales of Tangier
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The Complete Short Stories of Mohamed Choukri
Translated from the Arabic by Jonas Elbousty; Foreword by Roger Allen
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Format: PaperPrice: $16.00
The complete short stories of acclaimed Moroccan author Mohamed Choukri, translated into English and collected in one volume for the first time
Mohamed Choukri’s vivid stories invite the reader to wander the streets of Tangier, the ancient coastal crossroads between Europe and Africa, and to meet its denizens at markets, beaches, cafés, and brothels. Choukri’s Tangier is a place where newborns are for sale, swindlers hawk the Prophet’s shoes, and boys collect trash to sell for food.
Choukri says that “writing is a protest, not a parade.” And in these thirty-one stories he privileges the voices of those ignored by society: the abused, the abandoned, the addicted. The tales are at once vibrant local vignettes and profound reflections on the lives, sufferings, and hopes of Choukri’s fellow Tangerines.
Mohamed Choukri (1935–2003), who did not learn to read or write until the age of twenty while in prison, is a key contrarian voice in twentieth-century Arabic literature and the author of the controversial memoir For Bread Alone. Jonas Elbousty is director of undergraduate studies at the Council on Middle East Studies at Yale University. He lives in New Haven, CT.
Publication Date: May 16, 2023
