The Last Friend: A Novel

Description

The Last Friend, the new novel from internationally acclaimed author Tahar Ben Jelloun, is a Rashamon-like tale of friendship and betrayal set in 20th century Tangier. Written in Ben Jelloun's inimitable and powerfully direct style, the novel explores the twists and turns of an intense thirty-year friendship between two young men struggling to find their identities and sexual fulfillment in Morocco in the late 1950s, a complex and contradictory society both modern and archaic. From their carefree university days through their brutal imprisonment and ultimate release, the two rely on each other for physical and psychological survival, forging bonds not easily broken. Each narrator tells his version of the story, painting a vivid portrait of life lived within and against the moral strictures of North Africa. Set against a backdrop of the repression and disillusionment The Last Friend is a tale of loss of innocence and a nation's coming of age.

Winner of the 2004 international Dublin/IMPAC Prize, and the 1994 Prix Maghreb, Tahar ben Jelloun was born in 1944 in Fez, Morocco, and emigrated to France in 1961. A novelist, essayist, critic, and poet, he is a regular contributor to Le Monde, La Repubblica, El Pais, and Panorama. His novels include The Sacred Night, which received the Prix Goncourt in 1987, and Corruption (TNP).

"Selected Reviews for Tahar Ben Jelloun's The Last Friend: "A profound and moving novel" -Le Monde; "What Ben Jelloun does brilliantly is write with a kind of refreshing candor which demystifies the Arab world." - Paris Voice; "A seductive, lyrical novel exploring the seeming betrayal of a lifelong friendship." - French Book News"