Between The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea
GAY ARAB POET FACES OFF AGAINST SATAN AND DEATH IN A TALE OF QUEER HISTORY, GAY SEX AND MODERN MYTHOLOGY
WORDS: ULI LENART
BOOK OF THE MONTH
THE ANGEL OF HISTORY
Rabih Alameddine/Corsair
→ This innovative and exciting new novel from the author of An Unnecessary Woman opens with a somewhat camp and bitchy exchange between Satan and Death and proceeds to get more interesting. Set over the course of one night in the waiting room of a psychiatric clinic, The Angel of History follows Yemeni-born poet Jacob as he revisits the events of his life, from his upbringing in an Egyptian whorehouse to his adolescence under the guidance of his wealthy father and his life as a gay Arab in San Francisco at the height of the Aids crisis. Hovered over by a sassy Satan, who taunts Jacob into remembering his painful past, and a dour Death, who urges him to forget and give up on life, Jacob is also attended to by 14 saints. Set in Cairo, Beirut, Stockholm, and on the West Coast of America, this an intense and sensual novel about sanity, memory, love and personal resilience. Lyrical — and scattered with explicit scenes of gay sex — Rabih Alameddine has written a modern, multicultural riff on Faustus for Generation X, fluidly incorporating queer history, philosophy and modern mythology with poise and humour. With a sometimes unconventional structure and style, this makes for an audacious, beautiful and charismatic reading experience.