{"product_id":"the-man-who-read-books-by-rachid-benzine-sam-taylor","title":"The Man Who Read Books by Rachid Benzine, Sam Taylor (Hardcover) (PREORDER)","description":"\u003cp\u003eFiction - Literary - World Literature - Palestine - Books, Bookshops and Libraries\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRELEASE DATE: 11\/10\/2026\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e(WILL SHIP DIRECTLY FROM OUR SUPPLIER'S WAREHOUSE)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY: Sam Taylor\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAn elderly bookseller improbably keeps his shop open in Palestine, telling a foreign correspondent the ways in which literature has provided him with refuge and inspiration\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA young French photographer travels to Palestine to report on the bombings in the Gaza Strip. One morning, during a ceasefire, he wanders far from his hotel into the narrow alleys of the city. Roaming aimlessly, he stumbles across a bookseller sitting on the doorstop of his shop—an old man, surrounded by stacks of books. As the photographer raises his camera, the bookseller calls out to him and asks him to listen to his story, not simply take his picture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe story that unfolds is one that encompasses exile and imprisonment, activism and political disillusionment, the joys of love and art and watching your children grow up and thrive, and the tragedies that tear your loved ones from you. Each event is tied to the book that helped him understand and, in some cases, survive it, from Milan Kundera to Frantz Fanon to Umberto Eco to Ernest Hemingway, among many others. There’s a saying that when an old man dies a library burns, and it’s this very library that the bookseller opens and describes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRachid Benzine gives us a magnificent modern tale that explores the power of words against barbarism, of books as the last bastions of resistance against the loss of empathy, of literature as a means of sustenance during our darkest hours.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAUTHOR BIO: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eRachid Benzine\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is a teacher and research associate. He is the author of numerous works of acclaimed, prize-winning fiction and nonfiction in France and Morocco.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTRANSLATOR BIO: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cb\u003eSam Taylor \u003c\/b\u003eis an award-winning literary translator and novelist. He has translated over 70 books from French including works by many high-profile authors such as Laurent Binet, Leïla Slimani, David Diop, Maylis de Kerangal and Marcel Proust. His translations have received recognition from the International Booker Prize, National Book Award, Dublin Literary Award, Scott-Moncrieff Prize, French-American Foundation Translation Prize and Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize. Born in England, Sam was a journalist at the \u003ci\u003eObserver\u003c\/i\u003e before moving to France. He now lives in Texas with his family and is working on his sixth novel.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eBeautifully translated, including a transcendent poem by Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti and invocations of classics, from The Little Prince to One Hundred Years of Solitude, Benzine's novel will be at home in every library.\"-- \u003cb\u003eBooklist\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"This novel probes the powers and limits of memory, storytelling, and literature amidst destruction.\"-- \u003cb\u003eMizna\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"In Benzine's taut and heartbreaking novel, a French war photographer travels to present-day Gaza to report on the region during a ceasefire with Israel...His attention is drawn to aging bookseller Nabil Al Jaber, who refuses to let Julien photograph him until they get to know each other...Benzine beautifully captures Nabil's love of reading and shows how it has sustained him. It adds up to a memorable portrait of life during wartime.\"-- \u003cb\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"An encounter in Gaza between a photographer and a bookseller exposes wounds from decades of violence...A thin but potent study of endurance in the face of violence.\"-- \u003cb\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cardinal","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50696591868097,"sku":"9781538781159","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0535\/7522\/1441\/files\/9781538781159.jpg?v=1791333688","url":"https:\/\/www.bookhavenbooks.com\/products\/the-man-who-read-books-by-rachid-benzine-sam-taylor","provider":"Book Haven Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}