Tales of Tangier

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.

“The stories collected in Tales of Tangier draw on Choukri’s time in the city’s bars, cabarets, cafés, and brothels. The fragmented narratives read like journal entries, tossed-off anecdotes, half-remembered nightmares, or surreal reveries. . . . Scabrous, unsettling.”—Ursula Lindsey, New York Review of Books“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 ArabA World Literature Today Notable Translation of 2023“Dark and vibrant, full of sex and death and plenty of flies.”—Marcia Lynx Qualey, Qantara.de“With an unflinching focus on the spaces and people that the Moroccan state would like to keep invisible, Choukri’s trailblazing stories give voice to the marginalized and constitute a powerful act of literary protest.”—Jonathan Smolin, Dartmouth College“Jonas Elbousty’s vivid, precise, and poetic translation brings to English readers a new cache of work by Mohamed Choukri. At once disorienting, violent, strange, and modern, these narratives both enrich and complicate our understanding of the essential Tangier author.”—Brian T. Edwards, Tulane University“A fabulous introduction to Choukri's work. Jonas Elbousty's translation captures the raw directness of Choukri's style. I would recommend this translation to anyone who would like to read Choukri in English or to learn more about modern Moroccan literature. I also recommend the book to anyone planning a trip to Tangier. The book opens a fascinating window into life in Tangier in the 1960s and 70s.”—Eric Calderwood, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign