Sour Grapes

Set in the Syrian neighborhood of al-Qaweyq, Sour Grapes is a collection of fifty-nine wry, satirical short stories loosely connected by a cast of rotating characters living at societys margins. Tamer captures their everyday lives, weaving the attendant cruelties and ironies of living under an oppressive regime with the residents irreverence and small acts of defiance. Inspired by the heroines of Arab mythology, the women of al-Qaweyq navigate the patriarchal community with brash confidence and dark humor while the younger generation of children inherit a bitter cynicism from their fathers. Evoking under-ripened and immature fruit, the collections title serves as a bittersweet metaphor for a world that possesses the seeds of change but is unprepared for the harvest. Considered a master of the short story, Zakaria Tamer is one of the Arab worlds most prominent and widely read writers. Columbu and Capalleras fluid translation gives English readers access to Tamers original and provocative voice