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book: Tales of Tangier
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Tales of Tangier

The Complete Short Stories of Mohamed Choukri
  • Translated by:
  • Preface by:
Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2023

About this book

The complete short stories of acclaimed Moroccan author Mohamed Choukri, translated into English and collected in one volume for the first time

A World Literature Today Notable Translation of 2023

“Choukri is one of Morocco’s most revered figures. . . . To have his words translated is to have the privilege to view the inner world of his intellect and the obscured landscapes of Tangier.”—Noshin Bokth, The New Arab

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.

Author / Editor information

Mohamed Choukri (1935–2003), who did not learn to read or write until the age of twenty, 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. Roger Allen is Professor Emeritus of Arabic and Comparative Literature at the University of Pennsylvania.

Topics

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    Frontmatter

    i
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    Contents

    vii
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    Foreword

    ix
    Roger Allen
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  • Flower Crazy
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    Violence by the Shore

    1
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    The Net

    18
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    The Ones Who Came Back

    22
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    Motherhood

    24
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    People Laughing, People Sobbing

    30
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    Children Are Not Always Stupid

    34
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    Shahrayar and Shahrazad

    37
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    Talking About Flies Is Banned

    47
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    Bashir, Dead or Alive

    56
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    Vomit

    69
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    Bald Trees

    72
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    The Negative Force

    75
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    Puppiesʼ Tails

    77
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    The Shaved Head

    80
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    The Poets

    82
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    The Coffin

    84
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    Flower Crazy

    93
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  • The Tent
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    Men Are Lucky

    101
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    The Three Mouths

    133
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    The Impossible

    155
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    The Spiderweb

    171
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    Night and Sea

    174
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    The Strange Corpse

    182
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    The Miniature Paradise

    188
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    Upright Crawlers

    192
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    The Prophetʼs Sandals

    196
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    Azrou

    205
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    Widows 1

    215
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    Widows 2

    218
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    Aisha

    220
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    The Tent

    225
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    Translatorʼs Acknowledgments

    245
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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
May 16, 2023
eBook ISBN:
9780300271300
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
224
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This book is in the series
The Margellos World Republic of Letters
https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300271300
eBook ISBN: 9780300271300
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