"As I read Choukrirs"s notes, I saw and heard Jean Genet as clearly as if I had been watching a film of him. To achieve such precision simply by reporting what happened and what was said, one must have a rare clarity of vision."-From William Burroughsrs" introduction to Jean Genet in TangierTangier, "the most extraordinary and mysterious city in the world," according to Mohamed Choukri, was a haven for many Western writers in the early twentieth century. Paul Bowles, Jean Genet, and Tennessee Williams all spent time there, and all were befriended by Choukri.Collected here together for the first time in English are Choukrirs"s delightful recollections of these encounters, offering a truly fresh insight into the lives of these cult figures.The sights and sounds of 1970s Tangier are brought vividly alive, as are the larger-than-life characters of these extraordinary men, through ordinary everyday events.ls"What Yacoubi would really like is a complete harem,rs" I said. We laughed. ls"One handsome boy is enough for me,rs" said Tennessee. ls"A boy who just happens by.rs" ls"So you donrs"t want a harem?rs" I said. ls"No. Harems are always very tiring. Theyrs"re no fun.rs"Mohamed Choukri (19352003) is one of North Africars"s most controversial and widely read authors. After a childhood of poverty and petty crime, Choukri learned to read and write at the age of twenty. He then became a teacher and writer, finally being awarded the chair of Arabic literature at Ibn Batuta College in Tangier. His works include For Bread Alone and Streetwise (both available from Telegram).

"As I read Choukrirs"s notes, I saw and heard Jean Genet as clearly as if I had been watching a film of him. To achieve such precision simply by reporting what happened and what was said, one must have a rare clarity of vision."-From William Burroughsrs" introduction to Jean Genet in TangierTangier, "the most extraordinary and mysterious city in the world," according to Mohamed Choukri, was a haven for many Western writers in the early twentieth century. Paul Bowles, Jean Genet, and Tennessee Williams all spent time there, and all were befriended by Choukri.Collected here together for the first time in English are Choukrirs"s delightful recollections of these encounters, offering a truly fresh insight into the lives of these cult figures.The sights and sounds of 1970s Tangier are brought vividly alive, as are the larger-than-life characters of these extraordinary men, through ordinary everyday events.ls"What Yacoubi would really like is a complete harem,rs" I said. We laughed. ls"One handsome boy is enough for me,rs" said Tennessee. ls"A boy who just happens by.rs" ls"So you donrs"t want a harem?rs" I said. ls"No. Harems are always very tiring. Theyrs"re no fun.rs"Mohamed Choukri (19352003) is one of North Africars"s most controversial and widely read authors. After a childhood of poverty and petty crime, Choukri learned to read and write at the age of twenty. He then became a teacher and writer, finally being awarded the chair of Arabic literature at Ibn Batuta College in Tangier. His works include For Bread Alone and Streetwise (both available from Telegram).

Princeton grad John Hopkins came to Tangier after adventures in Peru. In addition to the portraiture of the city and its inhabitants, Hopkins' life in Marrakech and his trips into Morocco's Sahara, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Spanish Sahara, Mauretania, Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Cameroun, Swaziland and Mozambique are chronicled in entries rich with detail. The glamour, mystery, poverty and opulence of Tangier, the country of Morocco and Africa jumps from every page. The author presents a huge and dizzying cast of writers, painters, socialites, trance dancers, eccentrics, party-givers, magicians, aristocrats, confidence men and expat residents from the early sixties through the late seventies. One encounters Paul and Jane Bowles, Barbara Hutton, William Burroughs, Brion Gysin, Princess Ruspoli, Malcolm Forbes, Tennessee Williams, Mohammed M'rabet, The Hon. David Herbert, Ira Bilankine, Ted Morgan, The Countess de Breteuil and her fabulous mud castle in Marrakech, The Lady Caroline Duff, Jim Wyllie, Elizabeth Vreeland, Jean Genet, Elizabeth David, Alec Waugh, Alfred Chester, Margaret Lane, Louise de Meuron, Adolfo de Velasco, Marguerite McBey and countless others. The Tangier Diaries includes eight pages of photographs, and is invaluable for anyone interested in Tangier and the colorful figures who have lived there.