Why was the corpse of Khalil Ahmad Jaber found in a mound of rubbish? Why did he disappear weeks before his horrific death?
And who was he? A journalist begins to piece the truth together by speaking with his widow, a local engineer, a nightwatchman, the garbage man who discovered him, the doctor who performed the autopsy, and a young militiaman. Their stories underline the horrors of Lebanon’s bloody civil war and its ravaging effects on the psyches of the survivors.
With empathy and candour, Elias Khoury reveals the havoc the war wreaked on Beirut and its inhabitants, as well as their dogged resilience.
And who was he? A journalist begins to piece the truth together by speaking with his widow, a local engineer, a nightwatchman, the garbage man who discovered him, the doctor who performed the autopsy, and a young militiaman. Their stories underline the horrors of Lebanon’s bloody civil war and its ravaging effects on the psyches of the survivors.
With empathy and candour, Elias Khoury reveals the havoc the war wreaked on Beirut and its inhabitants, as well as their dogged resilience.
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Reviews
'A textual representation of a city torn apart by civil war: the familiar made strange, with all the accompanying confusion this entails' Guardian.
'Khoury is the sort of novelist whose name is inseparable from a city ... The beautiful, resilient city of Beirut belongs to Khoury' Laila Lalami.
'We need the voice of Elias Khoury - detailed, exquisite, humane - more than ever. Read him. Without fail, read him' Naomi Shihab Nye.
'Khoury [is] arguably the finest living Arab novelist' World Literature Today.