An autobiographical coming-of-age novel by the the "only gay man"
in Morocco. An autobiographical novel by turn naive and cunning,
funny and moving, this most recent work by Moroccan expatriate
Abdellah Taia is a major addition to the new French literature
emerging from the North African Arabic diaspora. Salvation Army is
a coming-of-age novel that tells the story of Taia's life with
complete disclosure-from a childhood bound by family order and
latent (homo)sexual tensions in the poor city of Sale, through an
adolescence in Tangier charged by the young writer's attraction to
his eldest brother, to a disappointing arrival in the Western world
to study in Geneva in adulthood. In so doing, Salvation Army
manages to burn through the author's first-person singularity to
embody the complex melange of fear and desire projected by Arabs on
Western culture. Recently hailed by his native country's press as
"the first Moroccan to have the courage to publicly assert his
difference," Taia, through his calmly transgressive work, has
"outed" himself as "the only gay man" in a country whose theocratic
law still declares homosexuality a crime. The persistence of
prejudices on all sides of the Mediterranean and Atlantic makes the
translation of Taia's work both a literary and political event. The
arrival of Salvation Army (published in French in 2006) in English
will be welcomed by an American audience already familiar with a
growing cadre of talented Arab writers working in French (including
Muhammad Dib, Assia Djebar, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Abdelkebir Khatibi,
and Katib Yasin).
General
Imprint: |
Semiotext(e)
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Series: |
Semiotext(e) / Native Agents |
Release date: |
March 2009 |
First published: |
2009 |
Authors: |
Abdellah Taia
|
Introduction by: |
Edmund White
|
Translators: |
Frank Stock
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 12mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
144 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-58435-070-5 |
Languages: |
English
|
Subtitles: |
French
|
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
General & literary fiction >
Modern fiction
|
LSN: |
1-58435-070-9 |
Barcode: |
9781584350705 |
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