In Tangier by Mohamed Choukri

by Mohamed Choukri

“As I read Choukri’s notes, I saw and heard Jean Genet as clearly as if I had been watching a film of him. To achieve such precision simply by reporting what happened and what was said, one must have a rare clarity of vision.”—From William Burroughs’ introduction to Jean Genet in Tangier

Tangier, “the most extraordinary and mysterious city in the world,” according to Mohamed Choukri, was a haven for many Western writers in the early twentieth century. Paul Bowles, Jean Genet, and Tennessee Williams all spent time there, and all were befriended by Choukri.

Collected here together for the first time in English are Choukri’s delightful recollections of these encounters, offering a truly fresh insight into the lives of these cult figures.

The sights and sounds of 1970s Tangier are brought vividly alive, as are the larger-than-life characters of these extraordinary men, through ordinary everyday events.

‘What Yacoubi would really like is a complete harem,’ I said.
We laughed.
‘One handsome boy is enough for me,’ said Tennessee. ‘A boy who just happens by.’
‘So you don’t want a harem?’ I said.
‘No. Harems are always very tiring. They’re no fun.’

Mohamed Choukri (1935–2003) is one of North Africa’s most controversial and widely read authors. After a childhood of poverty and petty crime, Choukri learned to read and write at the age of twenty. He then became a teacher and writer, finally being awarded the chair of Arabic literature at Ibn Batuta College in Tangier. Hisworks include For Bread Alone and Streetwise (both available from Telegram).

Genres: Morocco, Nonfiction, Memoir, Travel, Biography

Paperback

First published October 1, 2008

About the author

محمد شكري

Mohamed Choukri (Arabic: محمد شكري), born on July 15, 1935 and died on November 15, 2003, was a Moroccan author and novelist who is best known for his internationally acclaimed autobiography For Bread Alone (al-Khubz al-Hafi), which was described by the American playwright Tennessee Williams as 'A true document of human desperation, shattering in its impact'.

Choukri was born in 1935, in Ayt Chiker (Ayt Ciker, hence his adopted family name: Choukri / Cikri), a small village in the Rif mountains, in the Nador province. He was raised in a very poor family. He ran away from his tyrannical father and became a homeless child living in the poor neighborhoods of Tangier, surrounded by misery, prostitution, violence and drug abuse. At the age of 20, he decided to learn how to read and write and became later a schoolteacher. His family name "Choukri" is connected to the name Ayt Chiker which is the Berber tribe cluster he belonged to before fleeing hunger to Tangiers. It is most likely that he adopted this name later in Tangiers, because in the rural Rif family names were rarely registered.

In the 1960s, in the cosmopolitan Tangier, he met Paul Bowles, Jean Genet and Tennessee Williams. His first writing was published in 1966 (in Al-adab, monthly review of Beirut, a novel entitled Al-Unf ala al-shati (Violence on the Beach). International success came with the English translation of Al-khoubz Al-Hafi (For Bread Alone, Telegram Books) by Paul Bowles in 1973. The book was be translated to French by Tahar Ben Jelloun in 1980 (éditions Maspéro), published in Arabic in 1982 and censored in Morocco from 1983 to 2000. The book would later be translated into 30 other languages.

His main works are his autobiographic trilogy, beginning with For Bread Alone, followed by Zaman Al-Akhtaâ aw Al-Shouttar (Time of Mistakes or Streetwise, Telegram Books) and finally Faces. He also wrote collections of short stories in the 1960s/1970s (Majnoun Al-Ward, Madman of the roses, 1980; Al-Khaima, The Tent, 1985). Likewise, he is known for his accounts of his encounters with the writers Paul Bowles, Jean Genet and Tennessee Williams (Jean Genet and Tennessee Williams in Tangier, 1992, Jean Genet in Tangier, 1993, Jean Genet, suite and end, 1996, Paul Bowles: Le Reclus de Tanger, 1997). See also 'In Tangier', Telegram Books 2008 for all three in one volume.

Mohamed Choukri died on November 15, 2003 from cancer at the military hospital of Rabat and was buried at the Marshan cemetery in Tangier on November 17, with the audience of the Minister of Culture, numerous government officials, personalities and the spokesman of the King of Morocco. Before he died, Choukri created a foundation, Mohamed Choukri (president, Mohamed Achaâri), owning his copyrights, his manuscripts and personal writings.

Reviews

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is three books in one. "Paul Bowles in Tangier," "Jean Genet in Tangier," and "Tennessee Williams in Tangier." All three subject matters are incredible writers - yet the best of the three is without a doubt, the Bowles book. The Genet and Williams is interesting in a gossipy way, but Mohaned Choukri has very mixed and strong feelings about Bowles as a man and writer. And is actually a good reader of his work as well. Personally, i find Bowles endlessly fascinating. Burroughs has a reputation of being "cool," but it is nothing compared to the Bowles "cool." It's not cool, it is more solid ice. He's an amazing writer, and i like his music, what I have heard of it. Nevertheless, an interesting read - especially (or only ) interested in the whole Tangier literary scene, etc.

[D.J. Swales · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book immensely. What a treat to see through Choukri’s eyes, his vivid anecdotal insights bringing to life the daily lives/habits of these authors in heyday Tangier (a city I have visited and whose unique history I am in love with). Choukri’s perspective enthralls as a native Moroccan who encountered and part-immersed himself in an exotic world of Western exiles (who in turn found the native culture exotic and often inscrutable). He reveals how both sides exploited each other in different ways during a unique period in history in a city unlike any other then nor since. I do wish the name of Jane Bowles was on the cover with the list of three men. I found the significant snippets about her to be the most touching, gut-wrenching and inspiring as a writer myself. I took some of Choukri’s opinions of people with a pinch of salt, but it was all thoroughly enjoyable. I’m about to read the book again.

[Karim Abu-Seer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Choukri’s ability to make depict living in Tangiers in a vivid manner is extraordinary, as is his ability to bring to life the famed authors he describes meeting.

The subject matter of the book, however, wears thin after the midpoint. The authors he meets are certainly interesting, but so accurate are his portrayals of them that you begin to be irritated by some of their personalities. Their colonial view of Morocco and its inhabitants is palpable, and at odds with the seeming veneration they are met with by Choukri. He does not paint them as infallible, but to make such people the subject of a case study (which is how it feels at times) as they trample their way through Tangiers can be painful to read - hence the lower rating.

[William Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely, angry, compassionate, matter of fact, series of essays on mid century western writers who lived in or visited Tangier. Choukri does an excellent job depicting the Tangier they inhabited, which is often not the one they believed they inhabited. He also has hard and smart things to say about Paul Bowels’ misunderstanding of Moroccans and of Tangier while admiring Bowels’ artistry. Choukri comes across as fair and exacting. Nor does he spare himself.

[devitalise · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting that the love Choukri holds for Tangier is so palpable in this book where he isn’t the subject of his own memoir, yet he never challenges the racist and xenophobic views of the three men he befriends who loathe Tangier and Moroccans in the same breath that they exploit their surroundings. anyway.

this did a really good job of portraying quite realistic and faithful portraits of Jean Genet, Tennessee Williams and Paul Bowles, respectively. as more than their work, they came alive and i liked all of the conversations Choukri had with them. knowing that Gore Vidal didn’t like Truman Capote is such a funny thing to know to me, same as Françoise Sagan being the reason Bowles ended up in Tangier in the first place. a third party’s account of a confrontation between Anaïs Nin and Jane Bowles is such juicy gossip, regardless of its accuracy.

musings on Jane felt a bit repetitive and circular, treading over the same ground for almost 50 pages. but i enjoyed this book.

[Joseph M Labaki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read two other books by Mohamed Choukri: 'By Bread Alone' and 'Streetwise.' Unfortunately, I wasn't able to read them in Arabic, as I didn't have access to them. I read the English translations.

Mohamed Choukri is a writer, but not a philosopher, politician or moralist. He depicts life as he has lived it or as others have spoken about it. His writing is focused on his life and the society as it affects him. The interaction between the two is not a happy one. The genius of his writing is in expressing the intersubjectivity via sex.

[Jane E · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book for the Paul Bowles section rather than other two, much more superficial essays. Choukri's discussion of Tangier where he lives, his interactions with Bowles and his discussion of the author/musician with others is a fascinating portrait. It is different to those of other non-Moroccan authors and full of unique anecdotes. That the author himself has such an unusual background adds a special interest to his work.

[Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

old pal of Paul Bowles who is open minded but divided between his beliefs, alliances, habits, hedonistic nature and urges. simple but effective and a valuable timepiece and cultural artefact