The violence of war is rendered immediate and vividly personal in this powerful book by one of North Africa’s premier writers and intellectuals. The human devastation wrought upon Iraqis in the Gulf War and upon Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and the Occupied Territories is captured in a quietly unrelenting, essential act of remembering that balances lyricism with horror.

Tahar Ben Jelloun, poet, novelist, and professor, was born and raised in Fez, Morocco, and has lived and worked in France since 1971. Winner of the Prix Goncourt in 1987, he is the author of numerous works of fiction, poetry, and critique.