Beirut, I Love You: A Memoir - Softcover

Zena El Khalil

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0863564151 ISBN 13: 9780863564154

Publisher: Saqi Books, 2009

Synopsis

This is the story of Zena, a young woman who has fallen under the spell of a city that threatens to engulf her in war, grief and love affairs.

In the streets armed militias carve out their territories, while ragged construction workers rebuild the city. Refugees sleep five to a bed as bleach-blondes wend their way to the next drug-fuelled supernightclub. At any moment, the bombs will start falling.

Meanwhile, Zena and her best friend Maya must try to make sense of their lives amidst the craziness, and negotiate the city's many obsessions including cosmetic surgery, husband hunting and Kalashnikovs.

As honest as it is forgiving, this artist's memoir pits love and art against the ever-present threat of war.

About this title

Product Description:

Rare Book

Review:

'El Khalil brings the city and its current events to life through personal anecdotes about loss, tragedy, friendship, life as a young woman in a polarized city, and love for this conflicted, beautiful place she calls home.' Gwyneth Paltrow

'Part love letter and part memoir, el Khalil s work employs her artist s eye and ear to depict Beirut during and after the Israeli attacks on the country s south and the Lebanese civil war. No simple chronological narration, this is rather a highly personal, impressionistic depiction of events and emotions.... The author's varying tones of passion and detachment heighten the emotional effect. Like Baghdad, which has somehow always survived, el-Khalil defies defeat. Her unflinching inside view of Beirut s tragedy and of Amreekan duplicity underscore why her 2006 blog beirutupdate.blogspot.com received international attention.' Publishers Weekly

'Her book is like sitting down and having a conversation with her. You will feel close and connected, and it will feel relevant to you. Sensual and visceral, you will smell, hear, and taste Beirut, and you will not be disappointed.' Time Out Beirut

'Here, the dichotomies of East and West Beirut, Muslim and Christian, Arab and Phoenician, and pre and post-war (among others) are brought to life with a simplicity and cheek that only the likes of El Khalil could pull off.' Reorient

'Less the work of a writer, and more like a book written by an artist, Beirut, I Love You is crammed with metaphor and creativity' --Forward Magazine

'Part love letter and part memoir, el Khalil s work employs her artist s eye and ear to depict Beirut during and after the Israeli attacks on the country s south and the Lebanese civil war. No simple chronological narration, this is rather a highly personal, impressionistic depiction of events and emotions.... The author's varying tones of passion and detachment heighten the emotional effect. Like Baghdad, which has somehow always survived, el-Khalil defies defeat. Her unflinching inside view of Beirut s tragedy and of Amreekan duplicity underscore why her 2006 blog beirutupdate.blogspot.com received international attention.' --Publishers Weekly

'Her book is like sitting down and having a conversation with her. You will feel close and connected, and it will feel relevant to you. Sensual and visceral, you will smell, hear, and taste Beirut, and you will not be disappointed.' --Time Out Beirut

About this edition

• Publisher: Saqi Books
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0863564151
• ISBN 13: 9780863564154
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 218