Another Morocco
Selected Stories
By Abdellah Taia
Translated by Rachael Small
From the Semiotext(e) / Native Agents series
From the Semiotext(e) series
My name is Abdellah: the slave, the servant of God. I freed myself from Morocco’s constraints (but really?). All that remains is to escape myself.
Banger read to start the year
Short stories in the sense that these are “short stories” from the author’s life, real or inspired, I can’t really confirm though I’m leaning towards the former—does it matter? Taïa recounts his journey from growing up poor in Morocco to feeling lost and desolate in Paris. It’s like reading someone’s old journal; the writing is unvarnished but poignant. Disappearing fathers, romance and heartbreak, Paul Bowles, and always, Morocco. In one of my favorite stories, Angels’ Terminal, the cynical protagonist questions why his new European friend finds Morocco so beautiful, when all his life he dreamt of leaving home. The entire collection can be summed up by this exchange. This desire to break free from one’s fate, even if it means letting go of everything you’ve known your entire life.
Tags:
Morocco shorts translated coming-of-age semiotext(e) a warm feeling queer the heart aches168 pages
Published Mar 23, 2017 by Semiotext(e)
Fiction - Short Stories
Fiction - Biographical & Autofiction