Love with a Few Hairs

It's been a long time since I have enjoyed a book as much as this one. This is 100% storytelling at its best, juts the plain story of teenage love between Mohamed and Mina. It happens in Tangier (Morocco) probably in the 50's, just after or before Morocco's indepedence. The end is amazing and I wont spoil it for you. In many ways, Marbet's simple style reminded me of Richard Brautigan. But while Brautigan strives to be simple, Mrabet just does it as a matter of fact.

Mrabet is a Moroccan man who literally tells stories. The American author Paul Bowles (THE SHELTERING SKY, etc.) tapes these stories and translates them into English for us. Lucky us.This debut novel (published when Mrabet was 25) certainly has the slightly rambling but totally captivating force that we expect from the oral tradition. The prose is utterly simple and almost child-like, but the deadpan tone merely underscores the brutal motivations and rather amoral goings-on in the novel. Fret not: There's sorcery, lust, bisexuality, violence and all sorts of other goodies in store. Fans of Paul Bowles' short fiction, like A DISTANT EPISODE and PAGES FROM COLD POINT, will certainly know what I mean -- and will certainly not want to miss out on Mrabet. This man deserves to be a star.