Morocco: In the Labyrinth of Dreams and Bazaars

by Walter M. Weiss

Morocco has been influenced by an incredible variety of peoples - Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, Berbers, Muslims, Jews, and most of Europe's colonizers have played a part. Modern Moroccan society is no less rich and varied. In Berber villages in the mountains most people can't read and consider their king to be divinely chosen, while businessmen in Casablanca's towering offices dream of European Union membership and a tunnel to Andalusia. In this book, Walter M. Weiss travels the breadth and depth of these social and geographical contrasts. He visits the settings of modern legends, such as Tangier and Casablanca, as well as the two medieval centers, Fès and Meknès, and sees earthen kasbahs and Marrakech's bazaar. On the way, he meets acrobats, Sufi musicians, pilgrims, craftsmen, beatniks, rabbis and Berber farmers, among many others.

Genres: Travel, Morocco, Nonfiction

167 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2006

About the author

Walter M. Weiss, born 1961 in Vienna, Austria, read history, journalism and political science at Vienna university. Editor-in-Chief of several publications, he has travelled extensively worldwide, especially in North Africa, as well as the Middle East. He has been a freelance author since 1993, specialising in the subject of Islamic countries, Central European arts and culture and, more recently, in (South-)East Asia. His work has been published among others by GEO, Die Zeit, Merian, Neue Zürcher Zeitung and Weltwoche. Amongst the approx. 80 books, he has published so far, are Crash Course Islam, Der Basar / The bazaar (1994/1998), books about Austria, Egypt, Morocco, United Arab Emirates and Oman resp. about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as well as, in German, books on Bhutan, Burma, China, Vietnam, Syria, Morocco, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Vienna, Venice, Prague, Salzburg, Beijing, Shanghai and many others.


Since 2009 he is also regularly accompanying select tourist groups as a lecturer through Iran and Morocco.


He currently lives in Vienna.

Reviews

[Vari Lemur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice story telling that took me back to my own Morocco travels, leaving me yearning to go back.

[Wanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

...this book will definitely travel with me to Morocco! Loved it!

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting to finish this book after travelling in Morocco. What was a grueling 11 day bus tour for us sounds like it was vastly more difficult back when this book was written.

[Pınar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unbearable levels of western gaze.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

Holiday gift ... stereotypes and superficial snapshots ... not the Morocco I lived ...