One thousand and one nights : a retelling clasanan al-Shaykh ; foreword by Mary Gaitskill

Gathered and passed down over the centuries from India, Persia, and across the Arab world, the mesmerizing stories of One Thousand and One Nights tell of the real and the supernatural, love and marriage, power and punishment, wealth and poverty, and the endless trials and uncertainties of fate. They are related by the beautiful, wise, young Shahrazad, who gives herself up to murderous King Shahrayar. The king has vowed to deflower and then kill a virgin every night--but Shahrazad will not be defeated by the king's appetites. To save herself, she cunningly spins a web of tales, leaving the king in suspense each morning, and thus prolonging her life for another day. Acclaimed Lebanese writer Hanan al-Shaykh has selected nineteen of these stories, retold them in modern English, and knitted them together into an utterly intoxicating collection. In al-Shaykh's hands, Shahrazad's tales are lush and evocative, rich with humor, and utterly captivating. From... "One of the most daring female writers of the Middle East" (San Francisco Chronicle) gives us an extraordinary work of nonfiction: an account of her mother's remarkable life, at the core of which is a tale of undying love. In a masterly act of literary transformation, Hanan al-Shaykh re-creates the dramatic life of her mother, Kamila, in Kamila's own voice. We enter 1930s Beirut through the eyes of the unschooled but irrepressibly spirited nine-year-old child who arrives there from a small village in southern Lebanon. We see her drawn to the excitements of the city, to the thrill of the cinema, and, most powerfully, to Mohammed, the young man who will be the love of her life.Despite a forced marriage at the age of thirteen to a much older man, despite the two daughters she bears him (one of them the author), despite the scandal and embarrassment she brings to her family, Kamila continues to see Mohammed. Finally, after nearly a decade, her husband gives her a divorce, but she must leave her children behindThe Locust and the Bird is both a tribute to a strong-willed and independent woman and a heartfelt critique of a mother whose decision were unorthodox and often controversial. As the narrative unfolds through the years (Kamila died in 2001) we follow this passionate, strong, demanding, and captivating woman as she survives the tragedies and celebrates the triumphs of a life lived to the very fullest.From the Hardcover edition. "In a masterly act of literary transformation, celebrated novelist Hanan al-Shaykh re-creates the dramatic life of her mother, Kamila, in Kamila's own voice. We enter 1930s Beirut through the eyes of the unschooled but irrepressibly spirited nine-year-old child who arrives there from a small village in southern Lebanon. We see her drawn to the excitements of the city, to the thrill of the cinema, and, most powerfully, to Mohammad, the young man who will be the love of her life." "Despite a forced marriage at the age of thirteen to a much older man, despite the two daughters she bears him (one of them the author), despite the scandal and embarrassment she brings to her family, Kamila continues to see Mohammad. Finally, after a decade, her husband gives her a divorce, but she must leave her children behind." "The Locust and the Bird is both a tribute to a strong-willed and independent woman and a heartfelt critique of a mother whose decisions were unorthodox and often controversial. As the narrative unfolds through the years (Kamila died in 2001), we follow this passionate, strong, demanding, and captivating woman as she survives the tragedies and celebrates the triumphs of a life lived to the very fullest."--Jacket Erotic, brutal, witty and poetic, One Thousand and One Nights are the never-ending stories told by the young Shahrazad under sentence of death to King Shahrayar. Maddened by the discovery of his wife's orgies, King Shahrayar believes all women are unfaithful and vows to marry a virgin every night and kill her in the morning. To survive, his newest wife Shahrazad spins a web of tales night after night, leaving the King in suspense when morning comes, thus prolonging her life for another day. Written in Arabic from tales gathered in India, Persia and across the great Arab empire, these mesmerising stories tell of the real and the supernatural, love and marriage, power and punishment, wealth and poverty, and the endless trials and uncertainties of fate. Now adapted by Hanan al-Shaykh the One Thousand and One Nights are revealed in an intoxicating new voice. An Evocative Reimagining Of Nineteen Tales From The Classic Story About Young Queen Shahrazad's Efforts To Save Her Life From A Brutal Husband Focuses On Female Characters At The Heart Of Each Tale In A Woven Sequence That Incorporates Humor And Sensuality. Foreword -- Shahrayar And Shahrazad -- The Fisherman And The Jinni -- The Porter And The Three Ladies -- The First Dervish -- The Second Dervish -- The Third Dervish -- The First Merchant -- The Hunchback -- The Mistress Of The House's Tale -- The Doorkeeper's Tale -- The Shopper's Tale -- The Reaction Of The Caliph -- Dalila The Wily -- The Demon's Wife -- The Woman And Her Five Lovers -- Budur And Qamal Al-zaman -- Zumurrud And Nur Al-din -- The Fourth Voyage Of Sindbad The Sailor -- The Resolution Of The Porter And The Three Ladies. Hanan Al-shaykh ; Foreword By Mary Gaitskill. Since the U.S. publication of Women of Sand and Myrrh--which has now sold more than 35,000 copies and was selected as one of the Fifty Best Books of 1992 by Publishers Weekly--Hanan al-Shaykh has attracted an ever larger following for her dazzling tales of contemporary Arab women. In these seventeen short stories--eleven of which are appearing in English for the first time--al-Shaykh expands her horizons beyond the boundaries of Lebanon, taking us throughout the Middle East, to Africa, and finally to London. Stylistically diverse, her stories are often about the shifting and ambiguous power relationships between different cultures--as well as between men and women. Often compared to both Margaret Atwood and Margaret Drabble, Hanan al-Shaykh is "a gifted and courageous writer" (Middle Eastern International). Since the U.S. publication of Women of Sand and Myrrh —which has now sold more than 35,000 copies and was selected as one of the Fifty Best Books of 1992 by Publishers Weekly—Hanan al-Shaykh has attracted an ever larger following for her dazzling tales of contemporary Arab women. In these seventeen short stories—eleven of which are appearing in English for the first time—al-Shaykh expands her horizons beyond the boundaries of Lebanon, taking us throughout the Middle East, to Africa, and finally to London. Stylistically diverse, her stories are often about the shifting and ambiguous power relationships between different cultures—as well as between men and women. Often compared to both Margaret Atwood and Margaret Drabble, Hanan al-Shaykh is "a gifted and courageous writer" ( Middle Eastern International ). Four strangers meet on a turbulent flight from Dubai to London: Amira, a canny Moroccan prostitute; Lamis, a 30-year old Iraqi divorcee; Nicholas, an English expert on Islamic art; and Samir, a Lebanese man who is delivering a monkey on a mission he doesn’t fully understand. Once safely on British soil, Lamis and Nicholas fall in love, Samir chases after blond British youths, and Amira reinvents herself as a princess, the better to lure clients at the best London hotels. Through the city and across cultural borders, Only in London wittily portrays the smells, sounds, and sights of London’s lively Arab neighorhoods, as well as the freedoms the city both offers and withholds from its immigrants. In a masterly act of literary transformation, celebrated novelist Hanan al-Shaykh re-creates the dramatic life and times of her mother, Kamila. Married at a young age against her will, Kamila soon fell head-over-heels in love with another man--and was thus forced to choose between her children and her lover. As the narrative unfolds through the years--from the bazaars, cinemas and apartments of 1930s Beirut to its war-torn streets decades later--we follow this passionate woman as she survives the tragedies and celebrates the triumphs of a life lived to the very fullest From one of the world's most acclaimed contemporary Arab writers: a sparkling, sexy re-imagining of 19 mesmerizing tales from the masterpiece. The original tales were framed as stories told by the young queen Shahrazad to her murderous husband each night in order to save her life On a flight from Dubai to London, a sudden turbulence throws together four people from different corners of the Arab world and after the plane lands, their lives remain entwined as they seek love and liberty in London's burgeoning Arab community