Few writers can match the ingenuity and frenetic energy that Laroui, a leading Moroccan economist, summons in this collection, winner of France's Prix Goncourt for short fiction. . . . However absurd the content of these stories, the bitter legacy of colonialism is impossible to avoid. Laroui is at his most riveting when he seeks to complicate immigrant narrative tropes through formal innovation. –
Publishers Weekly "Laroui uses a wry, dry, knowing style to address identity and otherness, showing how focus on such issues defines the immigrant experience... Terrific stuff, insightful and often blackly funny." –
Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal (Starred Review) Laroui casts his eye on this dour political legacy with the scalpel-like precision of a social satirist...The argumentative friends who meet at the Café de l'Univers give the café a zany energy. Imagine the Algonquin Roundtable populated only by the Marx Brothers.–
Karl Wolff, New York Journal of Books Laroui writes in dialogue, both interior and exterior, which gives the collection the feel of oral storytelling... We become eavesdroppers, lingering at the edges of the audience in order to hear what is being said. Most of these stories play to the ridiculous. Some are even slapstick in their humor. . . . But beneath the hijinks Laroui manages to place a kernel of pathos–in this instance a reminder of the politics of globalization and its inherent imbalance of power. –
Tara Cheesman-Olmsted, The Rumpus "A stylistically versatile collection of connected short stories, Fouad Laroui's first work in English translation immerses the reader in the experience of a foreigner displaced. Humorous and thoughtful, with playful dialogue,
The Curious Case of Dassoukine's Trousers's characters accept both our laughter and sympathy. –
World Literature Today Fouad Laroui is one of Morocco's brightest talents, and this hilarious and profound collection of short stories is one of the best ways to discover his strange, insightful wit. –
Staff Pick at Albertine Books by Adam Hocker "A hilarious short story collection by Moroccan writer Fouad Laroui... Much of the book is conversations, a wry absurdist take on bureaucracy, life in Morocco, life in Belgium, storytelling itself." –
Jace Clayton (DJ Rupture), Dwarf + Giant "Fouad Laroui is witty and stylistically experimental. He shrewdly observes how politics, religion, racism (and anti-racism), economics, and sundry philosophical 'theories' interact with the quotidian." –
John Taylor, The Arts Fuse Since his debut in 1996, Fouad Laroui – endorsing the motto of Beaumarchais, 'I hasten to laugh at everything, for fear of being obliged to weep.' – has chosen the weapon of humor. A weapon that he uses brilliantly to hide his wounds rather than to 'serve his anger' against stupidity, contempt, malice, intolerance, and fanaticism of all kinds. –
Le Monde A striking metaphor for our times.–
Le Figaro (France)
[A] collection that is as funny as it is poignant and memorable... All of Laroui's gifts are on full display: the interweaving of narrative and commentary; the sharp humor; the gracious, full heart. –
Laura Farmer, The Cedar Rapids Gazette A writer who is aware of all the oddities of how the world around him works and holds these oddities up to the light, with a biting but gentle intelligence, a warm sense of humor, and a smart linguistic inventiveness. –
Shigekuni Blog Fouad Laroui has a gift for simultaneously expanding his readers' minds, spinning a yarn, and making us roll our eyes and laugh. Fellow Moroccan writer Laila Lalami has been calling for translations of his work into English for at least a decade. –
M. Lynx Qualey, Bookwitty The foreign angle is what made me pick up this short story collection
but I was happy to find that there is much, much more in Laroui's writing. First of all, it's funny. Laugh out loud on the bus funny. My favorite stories have a narrator spinning tales at a cafe, with a peanut gallery at the ready to put in their own two cents. –
Kazen, Always Doing This is a unique collection of stories that I can recommend to anyone who wants to experience a wide range of literary styles in a single collection of stories. –
Melissa Beck, The Bookbinder's Daughter "Stories... notable for their wisdom and compassion." –
Willard Manus, Lively-Arts: An Internet Cultural Magazine
