The Couscous Chronicles Stories of Food, Love, and Donkeys from a Life between Cultures by Azzedine T. Downes

The Couscous Chronicles Stories of Food, Love, and Donkeys from a Life between Cultures by Azzedine T. Downes | Book review

Book review:

"The Couscous Chronicles" is one of the most extraordinary and fascinating books I have ever read. It is a wonderful collection of stories told with humor, insight, and compassion. I was swept up in a world of travel, culture and rich human experience. The book is the first volume of the author's autobiography. Despite his accounts of some hair-raisingly dangerous situations this is not a dry political commentary, in fact it is a lively and often laugh-out-loud funny book.

The book explores the many ways that he has created change in his life; from travel, to an arranged marriage to ‘the girl from Tangiers’, to talking down violent situations and changing the attitudes of influential people, such as Yasser Arafat. Throughout it all we see that he is a pragmatic person with a sense of humour and a strong set of beliefs.

He shares much about the cultures of the places he has lived, as well as allowing us to get to know his wife and children through his writing. His use of humor is impeccable and was possibly the best part of the book, never trivializing important subjects, but adding a sense of wonderment to his stories.

Overall, the book is full of stories woven into a tapestry of life where there is laughter, fear, astonishment, love and everything in between. Stories that share making friends and sometimes enemies, about the everyday mundane and the extraordinary. So come along for the ride, be it a donkey or a plane and experience the rich tapestry that is life. Do grab it!

Purchase: https://amzn.to/3OXf15o

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