Forced to leave the University of Baghdad when the Americans invade, a young man returns to his village where he witnesses three horrifying events that transform him. First, American soldiers at a checkpoint kill the sweet and beloved “village idiot.” Several days later, an American plane bombs a wedding on the outskirts of the village. The most devastating incident takes place in his own home, when soldiers looking for terrorists humiliate his father in full view of the terrified family. Consumed by the desire to avenge this unspeakable act, the young man goes to Baghdad to join the resistance.
BOOK REVIEWS
Media Reviews
"Despite the essential bleakness of the book's themes, Khadra manages to inject a note of hope toward the end, without betraying his powerful message of how the occupation of Iraq has brutalized both the Iraqis and the Americans." - PW.
"[I]t dramatically embodies the points about cultural clash ...that is, it shows why crystal-clearly." - Booklist.
Yasmina Khadra, author of The Swallows of Kabul and other novels, is the pseudonym of exiled Algerian writer, Mohammed Moulessehoul. This is Khadra's second book (after The Attack, 2006) to explore the phenomenon of the educated, intelligent Arab terrorist.
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