In this extraordinary non-fiction novel, based on a true story, Tahar Ben Jelloun traces the experiences of Salim who, in 1971, took part in a failed coup attempt to oust King Hassan II of Morocco. With sixty others Salim was incarcerated in a secret prison complex in the Moroccan desert: he was to remain there for nearly twenty years. In starkly eloquent, beautiful prose, Ben Jelloun relates the prisoners' experiences as they struggle to survive. The son of a witty, feckless courtier who disowns him, Salim tells stories to keep sane from the suras of his beloved Koran to the plot of A Streetcar Named Desire. Even in the darkest, most terrible conditions, sympathy, insight, the human quest for meaning and understanding, never desert Salim. The resulting novel is a wrenching yet exquisite celebration of the human spirit and its determination to survive. A masterpiece' Judges of the IMPAC award 'a sad and splendid book' New York Times Book Review

達哈．班．哲倫Tahar Ben Jelloun

當代最重要的摩洛哥裔法語文學大師。一九四四年生於北非摩洛哥，大學時代修習哲學，而後在摩洛哥的大學任教。一九七一年定居法國，開始研修社會心理學，隨後擔任精神治療師，並為法國眾多報刊寫稿。班．哲倫的作品豐富而多樣，無論是小說、論述、詩集或是劇本，各方面都有卓越的成就。他雖然以法文創作，但文體仍保有阿拉伯文的敘事特色，也就是市井說書人的傳統，題材也多關注阿拉伯文化的各個層面，例如婦女地位、政治現實等。他的處女作《哈魯達》於一九七三年問世，此後陸續發表了《孤獨的遁世者》、《瘋人穆哈，智者穆哈》、《沙的孩子》、《神聖的夜晚》、《窮人客棧》、《暗夜無盡》等二十餘部體裁各異的作品，或表達對故國的思念與眷戀，或為遭受歧視排擠的非洲移民吶喊。一九七九年，他以《瘋人穆哈，智者穆哈》一書獲得『蒙地卡羅電台』及『法國圖書館員』等文學獎。一九八七年則以《神聖的夜晚》一書獲頒法國文學界最高榮譽的龔固爾獎，也因此奠定了他在國際文壇的大師級地位。班．哲倫也是龔固爾獎創始以來，第一位以北非法語區的阿拉伯人身分獲獎的作家。一九九四年他又獲頒『Noureddine Aba基金會文學大獎』，同年並以《腐化》一書，獲頒地中海文學獎。一九八八年出版的《為女兒講解種族主義》一書，使他獲得聯合國之友的『全球寬容獎』。他的聲望扶搖直上，甚至被義大利政府邀請代表義大利參選『歐洲議會』代表。二○○四年，班．哲倫以《暗夜無盡》一書榮獲都柏林國際文學獎。