Next installment of Tommi Reads the World – still in the As.
Country: Algeria
Title: The Star of Algiers
Author: Aziz Chouaki
Language: French
Translator: Ros Schwartz and Lulu Norman
Publisher: Graywolf Press (2005), éditions Balland (2002)
Aziz Chouaki fled Algeria in 1991 due to the civil unrest and the placement of the author on an assassination list. He died in France in 2019. It’s not a stretch of the imagination to recognize that Chouaki painted himself in the contours of singer Moussa Massy in The Star of Algiers; only Massy’s path is remarkably different as he was not able to escape.
Massy wants to be the Algerian Michael Jackson. He lives in a three-room apartment with thirteen other family members. His father doesn’t support his endeavors as a musician, one of his brothers is leaning into the fundamental Islamic group (FIS), one of his brothers is non-verbal autistic who enjoys mystery novels and cigarettes. He has to keep his relationship with his girlfriend a secret because he is in no position to get married. He spends his waking hours performing or trying to avoid the Islamic brothers.
As the fundamental and progressive Islamic groups clash, Massy is struggling to make it as a musician. He has a dream, and even though his world is going to shit around him, he’s going to chase it. He starts making a name for himself as the political situation worsens. But a child born on April first and growing up in a country in turmoil was never going to shine bright for long; his musical career ends and he finds himself in a deep depression. Those who can are escaping Algeria and encouraging him to do the same. He tries, but hope is fleeting. And when one dream dies, the star can die with it or set fire to the sky with a rage.
Set just before the “Black Decade,” which resulted in the deaths of over 200,000 Algerians, The Star of Algiers is a heartbreaking account of a boy with a dream who becomes the man hellbent on snatching stars from the sky.
A Girl Named Tommi 