Why read The Book of Gaza?

Book cover of The Book of Gaza: A City in Short Fiction

Book description

Under the Israeli occupation of the '70s and '80s, writers in Gaza had to go to considerable lengths to ever have a chance of seeing their work in print. Manuscripts were written out longhand, invariably under pseudonyms, and smuggled out of the Strip to Jerusalem, Cairo or Beirut, where they…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Book of Gaza as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Selma Dabbagh

Author

At a time of death and destruction in Gaza, this book is one of the only volumes that brings to the English language reader some of the voices from inside a small strip of land that has been under siege by land, sea, and air for sixteen years.

Although the quality of the writing is variable, I found that the rawness of the collection made the writers seem more intimate. With some gutsy writing by women and tender pieces by men, the anthology subverts assumptions and provides a wide heterogeneity of voices to the fore.

From Selma's list on The best books on being Palestinian.