The Jealous Lover

by Larbi Layachi

Nonfiction. In his new, non-fiction book, THE JEALOUS LOVER, Larbi Layachi unsparingly depicts his years as a teenager in Tangier, Morocco. Banished by his stepfather to sleep in a leaky shed where he all but drowns, the boy leaves home. At twelve he sets out on his own, resting at night on cafe floors, and fishing for a living on the beach. By turns, he smuggles contraband, meets a Spanish girl and falls in love, serves two terms in Tangier jails, oversees a beach cafe, and vends black market cigarettes in alleys. The troubled life he leads and the men he meets combine to form a vivid tale.

130 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1986

About the author

Driss ben Hamed Charhadi (1937–1986) is the pseudonym for Larbi Layachi, a Moroccan story-teller, some of whose stories have been translated by Paul Bowles from Moroccan Arabic to English. His Life Full of Holes was first tape-recorded and translated by Bowles over the course of several visits to his home by Charhadi.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Lidija · Rating 2 out of 5]

Part three of the Layachi biography, this time without the participation of Bowles. Wish they were all written in Moroccan Arabic, since so much of the flavor is lost when you transcribe from English/Spanish. As is, they're difficult to classify as Moroccan literature, Arab literature, or even literature.

"Life Full of Holes" was better by far. This one is worth it only if you are a hard-core reader of the colonial Tangier of Paul Bowles.