Deze serie biedt een diepgaande en persoonlijke inkijk in het leven van een individu, waarbij de cruciale momenten en vormende ervaringen worden onderzocht die hun identiteit hebben gevormd. Elke aflevering onthult verdere lagen van menselijke complexiteit, waarbij vaak thema's als groei, verlies en zelfontdekking aan bod komen. Lezers worden ondergedompeld in een authentiek verhaal dat resoneert met universele menselijke ervaringen. Het is een intieme reis die uitnodigt tot reflectie op ieders eigen levenspad.
At the age of twenty Mohamed Choukri decides to learn to read and write, and joins a children's class at the local state school in Tangier. When not at school he hangs out in cafes, drinking and smoking kif. Choukri's determination to educate himself, and his compassion for those with whom he shares his life on the streets is inspirational.
Driven by famine from their home in the Rif, Mohamed's family walks to Tangiers in search of a better life. But his father is unable to find work and grows violent, beating Mohamed's mother and killing his sick younger brother in a moment of mad rage.On moving to another province Mohamed learns how to charm and steal, and discovers the joys of drugs, sex and alcohol. Proud, insolent and afraid of no-one, Mohamed returns to Tangiers, where he is caught up in the violence of the 1952 independence riots. During a short spell in a filthy Moroccan jail, a fellow inmate kindles Mohamed's life-altering love of poetry.The book itself was banned in Arab countries for its sexual explicitness. Dar al-Saqi was the first publishing house to publish it in Arabic in 1982, thirty years after it was written, though many translations came out before the Arabic version.Translated by Paul Bowles.Mohamed Choukri is one of North Africa's most controversial and widely read authors. At the age of twenty he decided to learn to read and write classical Arabic. He went on to become a teacher and writer, finally being awarded the chair of Arabic Literature at Ibn Batuta College in Tangier.Paul Bowles, perhaps best known for his novel The Sheltering Sky, collaborated closely with Choukri on the translation of For Bread Alone.The story of Choukri's life is continued in Streetwise.