Description
A brutal and startling story that reveals how far an ordinary human being will go to maintain hope
About the Author
Tahar Djaout (1954-93) was an Algerian novelist, poet, and journalist, and the author of twelve books, including Les vigiles, winner of the Prix Mediterranee. An outspoken critic of the extremism stirring his nation, he was assassinated by an Islamic fundamentalist group. The manuscript of this novel was found among his papers after his death. Marjolijn de Jager teaches Dutch and French language and translation at New York University. Wole Soyinka is the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature and the author of more than thirty books. Alek Baylee Toumi is an associate professor of French and Francophone studies at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and the author of the play Madah-Sartre, available in a Bison Books edition.
Reviews
"The Last Summer of Reason has acquired a new and haunting immediacy since the attacks of September 11. . . . Deftly translated from the French by Marjolijn de Jager, and with a foreword by Wole Soyinka, the novel provides an anguished dispatch from what nearly became Algeria's future. . . . An elegiac ode to literature and a furious protest against intolerance."-Adam Shatz, New York Times
"One is reminded of how life-affirming and dangerous literature still can be."-Minneapolis Star Tribune
"The Last Summer of Reason provides a powerful and strangely beautiful reminder of the danger of letting violent ideological fundamentalism fester. We would do well to heed this reminder now, not later."-Jennifer Bryson, Public Discourse
Book Information
ISBN 9780803215917
Author Tahar Djaout
Format Paperback
Page Count 176
Imprint Bison Books
Publisher University of Nebraska Press
Weight(grams) 181g