Thursday, July 07, 2011

The English Language Bookshop - new summer treats



The American Language Center bookshop in the Ville Nouvelle is situated at 2 Ave Ahmed Hiba, (just ask the taxi driver for the "American Centre). In the early weeks the stock was very limited. Thankfully that has all changed. While the shop has text books for the students at the Arabic Language Institute, and carries a range of dictionaries and some books for the Moroccan students learning English, there is now much more.

There are some handsome photographic books on Moroccan architecture and design,as well as wonderful cookbooks. The shop focuses on books about Morocco such as Edith Wharton's In Morocco, Fatima Mernissi's Dreams of Trespass, Peter Mayne's A Year in Marrakech, Paul Bowles' The Sheltering Sky and some of his short stories, and has some non-fiction by writers such as Fatima Sadiqi. Books written in English by Arab writers are also represented. Thankfully, with the expansion of titles, there is now a Paul (and Jane) Bowles section.

There was no modern fiction when the bookshop first opened. That too has changed and we discovered a good selection that will make perfect reading during the hot summer ahead.

Our approach is to have a wide selection of interesting titles, and to have new books coming in on a regular basis ~ David Amster, ALC Director

The bookshop's original policy of having only one copy of each book was simply bad retailing and has now been changed so that there are several copies of the most popular titles such as Tahir Shah's The Caliph's House", and Suzanna Clarke's A House in Fez.

So, next time you are after a good book, this bookshop will certainly have plenty to offer.


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