Passage of tears - Abdourahman A. Waberi

Djibouti, a hot, impoverished little country on the Horn of Africa,
is a place of great strategic importance, for off its coast lies a
crucial passage for the world's oil. In this novel by Abdourahman A.
Waberi, Djibril, a young Djiboutian voluntarily exiled in Montreal,
returns to his native land to prepare a report for an American economic
intelligence firm. Meanwhile, a shadowy, threatening figure imprisoned
in an island cell seems to know Djibril's every move. He takes dictation
from his preaching cellmate known as his "Venerable Master," but as the
words are put on the page, a completely different text appears-the life
of Walter Benjamin, Djibril's favorite author.

Passage of Tears cleverly mixes many genres and forms of
writing-spy novel, political thriller, diary (replete with childhood
memories), travel notebook, legends, parables, incantations, and
prayers. Djibril's reminiscences provide a sense of Djibouti's past and
its people, while a satire of Muslim fundamentalism is unwittingly
delivered through the other Djiboutian voice. Waberi's inventive parody
is a lesson in tolerance, while his poetic observations reveal his love
and concern for his homeland.

"Disguised as a political thriller, Passage of Tears is above all a great novel of childhood, murderous identities, and exile."-Le Monde des Livres

"A gripping book, burning with urgency and tension."-Tlrama.

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The French-Djiboutian novelist, poet, and essayist Abdourahman A. Waberi is one of the leading francophone writers of his generation. His other books include The Land Without Shadow, Harvest of Skulls, and Rifts, Roads and Rails. Together or separately, David and Nicole Ball have published nine book-length translations, most recently Waberi's In the United States of Africa.

"With Waberi, the juxtapositions-surprising, provocative, and original-form a good part of the thrill themselves."

"If Waberi's books are any indication, the novel of ideas, long regarded with indifference if not suspicion, may be set for a renaissance. Waberi is unabashed and unusually adept in creating heart-wrenching stories that test general assumptions, politically correct and incorrect, about exile, tolerance, mtissage, the hypocritical cynicism of postcolonial Western foreign policies and development, the pragmatic cynicism of aspiring political and religious factions in the developing world, and the ruthless machinery of a global economy."

"[A] palpable illustration of life in Djibouti. In supple flowing prose, Waberi layers image upon image of life in that arid, rocky land where the Arabian and Red Sea meet in the Gulf of Tadjoura. . . . Ultimately Passage of Tears is a story about rejection, estrangement, and exile. Waberi delivers a satisfying end that readers will consider many more times after the pages are tucked into the bookcase. Set at a strategic geographic crossroads, the novel brings together the primary branches of Abrahamic tradition in their modern and ongoing struggle for dominance and restoration."