Laila Lalami

Yesterday I watched a pick up game of soccer while we were at the beach, just outside the capital of Rabat. A group of eight shirtless teenagers were playing, a few of them barefoot on the cement basketball court. There were three or four of these courts by the beach, but no soccer field, even in this soccer-mad town. So the kids had just used one of the basketball courts for their game. They’d divided up the teams by having four of them play with their shoes on and the other four with their shoes off. The kids in shoes were winning.
Like that game of soccer, Morocco is divided between the haves and the have nots; the mansions with their marble arches, and the shacks with their corrugated tin roofs held down by rocks, only a mile away; the westernized to the point of mimicry and the traditional to the point of extremism; the 9-to-5 workers and the jobless who sit in cafes, watching them come and go; the bikini-clad girls and those who flaunt their scarves instead of their breasts.
As I was getting ready to leave, the barefoot kids scored. I jumped up to cheer them, but they were too overjoyed to notice.

Many thanks to Jim Hanas for guesting on Friday. If you’re interested in guesting next Friday, drop me a line.

I first became aware of Jim Hanas’ work when I read his quirky story, “Miss Tennessee,” in The Land-Grant College Review. I was delighted when I saw that he’s joined the blogosphere with Encyclopedia Hanasiana, where you’ll find a gallery of tourists taking pictures of the Chrysler Building, among other things. Beside LGCR, his fiction has appeared in One Story, McSweeney’s and Bridge. He has also contributed to GQ and Salon. I leave you in Jim’s capable hands for tomorrow while I’m on travel.

The bags have been packed. The work turned in. The water turned off. So I’m going to be off, but tune in again next week, as I’ll probably have some new material live from Morocco.

The best news of the day: Chimamanda Ngodi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus has made the longlist for the Booker prize. I’ve been telling everyone to go get this book for a while (see my review here) and hopefully this nomination will get Adichie the attention her work deserves.

Gerard Jones, the man behind Everyone Who’s Anyone in Adult Trade Publishing is calling it quits.

The Halo Effect author M.J. Rose, who’d written an article wondering whether there are simply too many books out, shares some of the responses she’s received.

To date, I have gotten over 500 emails answering my questions. And responses are still coming in every day.
So far, 60% of you said you are overwhelmed.
30% said no, there are not too many books but there are too few book reviews in the media and too few central sources to find out about books in a meaningful way.

And the most interesting stat is that 70% of respondents said they rely on word-of-mouth. This is quite sobering especially in light of all the brouhaha about declining newspaper coverage of books in general and fiction in particular.

I was thrilled to hear that Hicham El Guerrouj won the gold in the 1500 meter race. If you’re unfamiliar with him, well, let’s just say that he’s the greatest mile runner of all time and this win means so much because of his previous losses in Sydney in 2000 and Atlanta in 1996. But his perseverance has finally paid off and I can only imagine what his homecoming will be like. Well, maybe I won’t have to imagine it. I’ll be going to Morocco in a couple of days, so I’ll see for myself.

Soon. I have to pack for my upcoming trip and I’m running out of battery anyway. But I’ll have something up later today or tomorrow, and hopefully will get someone to guest blog. (And, if interested, email me.)

The Telegraph has a longish profile of David Lodge, covering his latest novel on Henry James, his own academic career, and his struggle with having a child with Down Syndrome.