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author
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selected story: The Top
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The
Time between Places
Stories That Weave In and Out of Egypt and America
Pauline Kaldas
Tales that reveal intimate struggles
with identity and place
“Pauline Kaldas’s The Time between Places
is one of those remarkable books that lets you in behind closed
doors, offering a collection of tales that illustrates what
it means to leave, to start over, to live in two worlds. In
lyrical prose that is powerful in its subtlety, Kaldas’s
stories tell of quiet conflicts, unfulfilled dreams, and swallowed
ambitions. The Time between Places is a gem.”
—Laila Halaby, author of Once in a Promised Land
and West of Jordan
“Kaldas takes the short story form and makes it her
own, writing with
urgency and a unique understanding of the tensions which surround
the immigrant experience. Here is a writer confident in her
craft and imagination. These are very welcome and important
stories which simultaneously test and instruct, and always
leave a mark.”
—Marcia Douglas, author of Notes from a Writer’s
Book of Cures and Spells
This collection of twenty stories delves into the lives of
Egyptian
characters, from those living in Egypt to those who have immigrated
to the United States. With subtle and eloquent prose, the
complexities of these characters are revealed, opening a door
into their intimate struggles with identity and place. We
meet people who are tempted by the possibilities of America
and others who are tempted by the desire to return home. Some
are in the throes of re-creating themselves in the new world
while others seem to be embedded in the loss of their homeland.
Many of these characters, although physically located in either
the United States or Egypt, have lives that embrace both cultures.
“A Game of Chance” follows the actions of a young
man when he wins the immigration lottery and then must decide
whether or not to change his life. “Cumin and Coriander”
takes us inside a woman’s thoughts as she tries to come
to terms with the path her life has taken while working as
a cook for American expatriates in Egypt. “The Top”
enters the mind of a man whose immigration results in a loss
of identity and sanity. These compelling stories pull us into
the lives of many different characters and offer us striking
insights into the Arab American experience.
Pauline Kaldas
was born in Egypt and immigrated to the United States in 1992.
She is an associate professor of English at Hollins University
and the author of Letters from Cairo; a poetry collection,
Egyptian Compass; and co-editor, with Khaled Mattawa,
of Dinarzad’s
Children: An Anthology of Contemporary Arab American Fiction,
now in its second edition, which won the 2005 Silver Award
in ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year “Anthology”
category. Stories from The Time between Places have
appeared in a variety of journals and books, including Callaloo,
Mizna, and Ripe Guava.
November
6 x 9, 220 pages
$19.95 paper
ISBN 978-1-55728-924-7
$65.00 (s) unjacketed cloth
ISBN 978-1-55728-947-6
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