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about the authors & works
Tahar Ben Jelloun
Celebratednovelist Tahar Ben Jelloun (born in Fez,Morocco, 1944)
studied philosophy at Mohammed V University in Rabat, and
received his doctorate in social psychology from the Sorbonne.
Jelloun has lived in Paris since 1972 and written more than 23
works. Fully bilingual from childhood, he chooses to write his
novels in French rather than Arabic, although virtually all have
been situated in North Africa. He is the first Arab writer to have
been honoredwith the Prix Goncourt, and has received numerous
other accolades including the Cross of Grand Officer of the
Légion
d’honneur,
awarded by Nicolas Sarkozy. He has been a vocal critic
of tyranny in the Middle East, and addressed aspects of the Arab
Spring in notable fiction and essays. Yet foremost, as he puts it,
he is “a storyteller, a novelist, and a fabulator who plays with
words and with the imaginary.”
Ablation
relates the experience of the author’s friend, who
undergoes life-changing surgery. This work meshes past and
present, and combines fiction,
reportage,
colloquial speech and
medical terminology, to explore the identity and inner struggle of
the unfortunate protagonist.
Translated from French by Clayton McKee.