'A true document of human desperation, shattering in its impact.'

- Tennessee Williams

'Its unrelenting realism has produced a masterpiece...In Choukri's African Islamic coastal cities the nightmares are of fathers killing children and the agony of hunger. Choukri's memories take him from famine in the Rif to Tangier and Oran, a world of crime, paid-for sex and of living poor...It is an urban pain where every day "the alleys swallow me up and spew me out." A book to read, cherish and remember - and to show us again why we need books as well as bread.'

- Morning Star

'(An) extraordinarily vivid, uncensored immediacy ... Using only undemonstrative prose, and asking for no special sympathy, Choukri conveys the experience of struggling to survive in a harsh world of dusty streets and unforgiving sunlight.'

- Nicolas Clee, The Guardian

'Five stars ... Achingly elegant ... Choukri's irrepressible, ultimately indomitable spirit is most touching and human.'

- The Independent

'Richly descriptive and engaging ... an honest and vivid account. ... Definitely an enjoyable and worthwhile read.'

- Socialist Review

'A cult classic ... Choukri's text has become a staple on the syllabi of modern Arabic, comparative literature, and post-colonial studies programs.'

- Daily Star

'The most poetic exploration of that world of vice, coffee, conversation and intrigue ... One of the most widely read modernist novels in the Arab world.'

- Outsideleft.com

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Last modified on October 30, 2006  | © Telegram 2005