Banquet of Lies
By (author) Amin Zaoui Translated by Frank Wynne
Paperback (Published)
(April 2008)
ISBN: 9780714531601
5.28 x 7.99 inches
Price: $14.95
On back order
Banquet of Lies is the story of Koussaila or “Nems” (weasel), and the awakening of his unbridled passion for older women. In spite of the fact that his family is Sharif; directly descended from the prophet Muhammad, Koussaila cannot resist seeking forbidden pleasure in the arms of inappropriate women; his aunt, a cleaning lady, a Jewish neighbor and even a Catholic nun.
After his first sexual experience, on the same day as Algeria’s 1965 coup d’etat, Koussaila continues on a chaotic path of desire, self-disgust, literature and sex, trying to reconcile the world of Islam with that of the ‘roumis’; Europeans.
One day, however, he will be forced to choose. War, intolerance, and Islamic fanaticism are looming on the horizon.
Today, we see increasing focus on the impact Islamic nations have on the Western world, and the struggle between conservative and nationalist Islamic strands in Eastern countries. This is a novel that challenges established Islamic thought, and its radicalism in descriptions of sexuality across the generations will be of huge interest.
This is a beautifully written erotic novel, translated from the French by Frank Wynne, the prize-winning translator of Michel Houellebecq’s Atomised and Platform. This was the first book by the author to be translated into English.
Amin Zaoui (born 25 November 1956) is an Algerian novelist.[1] He was born in Bab el Assa in Tlemcen province and studied at the University of Oran, obtaining a PhD in comparative literature. He moved to France during the Algerian civil war, but returned home in 1999. He has served as the Director General of the National Library of Algeria, and currently teaches comparative literature at the Central Algerian University.
Zaoui is a bilingual writer, and has published novels in both French and Arabic. His work has been translated into a dozen languages. Zaoui’s French novel Festin de Mensonges has been translated into English by Frank Wynne. In 2012, his Arabic novel The Goatherd was nominated for the Arabic Booker Prize.
He has also translated French novels by Mohamed Dib and Yasmina Khadra into Arabic.
- By (author) Amin Zaoui
- Translated by Frank Wynne
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