Printed in Beirut

Douaihy's style put me off a little a first, being digressive with anecdotal paragraphs. This soon proves to be strength, rather than weakness, providing much vivid insight into the cultural depth of life in Lebanon. The title of the book implicitly affirms that the country have some claim to global and cosmopolitan cred. Underlying the book are the many coexisting cultures and religions that make up Lebanon and that they reflect real norms in the region set against than the tendency (maybe?) to be relegated as an anomaly. Though this historical coexistence is tenuous, even ravaged with conflict roots run deep. For all this, under the surface the story-line is engaging, picaresque and accessible in a way that is never aloof. I didn't show more take long for me to find myself enjoying it a great deal. I'm probably going to check out his other books, as they have been translated to English (the translation of this book is excellent, by the way). One has to give equal acknowledgement of the translator, when it come s to world literature. show less

A shaggy dog story set in the publishing world of Beirut. Most of the book consists of historical digressions that never quite resolve.