Wry, satirical and bawdy, Tamer's stories are always informed by his dark view of humanity and of Syrian society in particular. Through these glimpses of corrupt, fearful lives under a violent dictatorship, it is possible to discern echoes of...
Set in the Syrian neighborhood of al-Qaweyq, Sour Grapes is a collection of fifty-nine wry, satirical short stories loosely connected by a cast of rotating characters living at societys margins. Tamer captures their everyday lives, weaving the att...
"Tamer's world is not usually a kind one, but the precision of his language, enigmatic style, and frequent black humour have ensured that these stories are as readable today . . . as when they were first published--continuing to provide for the non-specialist reader 'a revealing peep behind the scenes, ' in [Denys] Johnson-Davies's words, of a harsh and sometimes puzzling world."--Banipal "Tamer's world is not usually a kind one, but the precision of his language, enigmatic style, and frequent black humour have ensured that these stories are as readable today . . . as when they were first published--continuing to provide for the non-specialist reader 'a revealing peep behind the scenes, ' in [Denys] Johnson-Davies's words, of a harsh and sometimes puzzling world."--Banipal
Zakaria tamer, born in Damascus in 1931, published his first stories in 1957 and has long been recognized as one of hte pre-eminent short fiction writers of hte Arab world, as well as the foremost writer of Arabic children's fiction. He lives in London.