Solitaire

Hassouna Mosbahi is a Tunisian writer, literary critic, and journalist. He is the author of several novels and short story collections. William M. Hutchins is professor of religious studies at Appalachian State University. His translations include Hassan Nasr's Return to Dar al-Basha and Naguib Mahfouz's Cairo Modern.

Mosbahi's work dissolves temporal barriers, saturating the present with echoes of the past. It feels vertiginous to remember that all the action spans a single day, kaleidoscoped through the mind of the eponymous orphan-protagonist Yunus and taking place mostly along the coast, at the threshold of sea and sand.-- "Alex Tan, Asymptote" Mosbahi's prose, in Hutchins's translation, is endlessly allusive, shifting from its protagonist's innermost thoughts to broader meditations on his region's geopolitics and back again.-- "Tobias Carroll, Words Without Borders" Hutchins' exceptional translation of an Arabic fiction rich in allegory and intertextual references bridging Arab / Muslim and European cultures offers the readers a new door to access and appreciate Tunisian culture and society as well as enrich their grasp of people's experiences in the larger area throughout the history of the region.-- "Saloua Ali Zahra, Apalachian State University" One of the best translations. . . . A splendid contribution to Tunisian studies in the Anglophone world.-- "Lamia Benyoussef, translator of The Perplexity of a Muslim Woman"