Sand-Catcher

By: Omar Khalifah, Barbara Romaine (Translator)

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Paperback | 1 April 2025

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Paperback
224 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21.0 x 14.0 x 1.5

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A sardonic, thrilling fable about collective memory and the many ways it can be saved or subverted.

Four young, Palestinian journalists at a Jordanian newspaper are tasked, on account of their heritage, with profiling one of the last living witnesses of the Nakba, the violent expulsion of native Palestinians by the nascent state of Israel in 1948. Confident that the old man will be all too happy to go on record, the reporters are nonplussed when they are repeatedly, and obscenely, rebuffed. This living witness to history, this secular saint, has no desire to be interviewed, no desire for his memories to be preserved, no desire to serve as an inspiration for the youth of tomorrow. What he wants is to be left alone.

As threats from the team''s editor-in-chief put more and more pressure on the journalists, they must decide just how far they''re willing to go to get the old man on the record. After all, what possible weight can one stubborn demand for privacy have when balanced against the imperative to bear witness?

Omar Khalifah''s debut novel Sand-Catcher is at once a polyphonic satire and a tightly plotted tale of suspense. Walking the line between gallows humor, rage, and depthless heartbreak, it is a unique reflection of contemporary Palestinian identity in all its facets.

Industry Reviews

Praise for Sand-Catcher

Literary Hub, "Most Anticipated Books of 2024"

"A timely new translation and hopefully one we'll be reading at the same time as we can celebrate a safe and free Palestine." -Literary Hub

Past Praise:

Praise for Nasser In the Egyptian Imaginary

"A thoroughly original and important portrait of one of the Arab world's most significant figures in the 20th century, someone whose impact, as the author concludes, continues to resonate across the Arabic-speaking world." -Roger Allen, translator of One Hour Left

"Omar Khalifah's Nasser in the Egyptian Imaginary critically analyzes the varied representation of the charismatic Egyptian president, Gamal Abdel Nasser. His image in public memory, as documented by Khalifah, veers from that of an intellectual martyr, a romantic hero, to the ultimate Pharaoh, full of misdeeds." -Abdur Raheem Kidwai, The Muslim World Book Review

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