The Book Of Khalid

Description

Told with great good humour and worldly compassion The Book of Khalid recounts the adventures of two young men, Khalid and Shakib, who leave Lebanon for the United States to seek their fortune in turn-of-the century New York. Together, they face all the difficulties of poor immigrants - the passage by ship, admittance through Ellis Island and the rough immigrant life. Playing with classical Arabic literary forms, as well as Western literary conventions, this is a unique contribution to world literature.

Ameen Rihani (1876-1940) was a poet, writer, diplomat and intellectual, who wrote in both English and Arabic. Born in Lebanon, he spent his teen years in New York, where, with his friend Kahlil Gibran, he was part of the literary and artistic circles of the day. As a writer, he was greatly esteemed in the United States during his lifetime, and he remains widely read in the Middle East to this day. TODD FINE (afterword) is the director of Project Khalid, the centennial campaign for The Book of Khalid. projectkhalid.org

"The Book of Khalid is a beautiful example of the lasting power of creative spirits in a complicated world ... masterful." -The Austin Chronicle "...prescient in its treatment of Arab-Western relations." -The New Yorker "Remarkably relevant to the popular uprisings sweeping the Middle East today." -BBC News "Rihani's style is lavish and unrestrained...the prose is ecstatic." -The Brooklyn Rail "This landmark novel...is artful and complex...Rihani encourages us to cherish our liberty, to seek material comfort and to engage our spiritual lives, to be patriotic yet remain critical of our failings." -- The Cleveland Plain Dealer