In this Book
- The Salmiya Collection: Stories of the Life and Times of Modern Kuwait
- Book
- 2013
- Published by: Syracuse University Press
In The Salmiya Collection, Loomis celebrates the essence of everyday life in a little-known part of the world. With lucid prose and keen detail, these stories offer nuanced portraits—tragicomic, bittersweet, and candid—of ordinary Kuwaitis: expatriates and natives, students and professors, siblings, and lovers. In "Ancient Civilization 101," a young man suspects his girlfriend Mariam is unfaithful and, in a fury, shears her long hair. The confidence and boldness in Mariam that first attracted him is now seen as a threat. In "The Conference on Rights and Freedom," two young students invited to present their paper at an academic conference in the United States share with their professor their dramatic plan to "show them who we are."
Each of the forty stories in the collection reverberates with the others, illuminating a world the reader will not soon forget. Loomis renders a Kuwaiti society that is complex and distinct, and yet the characters and situations unveil a time and a place that is universal.
Table of Contents
- Title Page, Copyright
- pp. 2-7
- Acknowledgments
- pp. ix-11
- Introduction
- pp. xi-15
- The Reprimand
- pp. 1-4
- The Ballad of Reedah
- pp. 5-8
- The Untimely Death of Number 431
- pp. 9-12
- The Older Brother
- pp. 13-16
- Once Upon a Time and Not So Far Away
- pp. 17-28
- The Reluctant Terrorist
- pp. 33-36
- The Recruit
- pp. 37-43
- The Night Watchmen
- pp. 44-47
- The Bank Teller’s Tale
- pp. 52-55
- The Ballad of the Retired Hangman
- pp. 56-65
- Rumors of Midgets
- pp. 66-68
- East of Jahra
- pp. 73-76
- Ancient Civilizations 101
- pp. 77-82
- After the Music Lesson—Times Three
- pp. 83-87
- Wednesday’s Lunch
- pp. 88-91
- Just Right
- pp. 92-95
- The Border Guard’s Philosophy
- pp. 96-100
- The Ballad of Fat Ali
- pp. 101-104
- The Sweet Cart Papers
- pp. 105-109
- Another Country’s Waitress
- pp. 110-113
- The Jungles of Basra
- pp. 114-125
- At Poolside
- pp. 126-129
- The People of Nepal, or Maybe Tibet
- pp. 130-132
- The Doughnut Shop
- pp. 133-140
- The Lives of Poor People
- pp. 141-143
- 13 February 2007
- pp. 144-147
- Backyard Readings
- pp. 148-151
- The Late Breakfast
- pp. 152-154
- The Excellent Teacher
- pp. 155-158
- The Emergency Room Doctor at Play
- pp. 159-162
- Somewhere on the Gulf Road
- pp. 163-165
- The Soor Street Insurance Company
- pp. 166-171
- The Censor
- pp. 172-175
- La Vida Loca
- pp. 176-179
- The Brothers
- pp. 180-183
- The Holy Roman Empire on a Sunday Morning
- pp. 184-187
- Mr. Shehab Is Coming
- pp. 188-191
- The Driver
- pp. 192-194
- The Gardener
- pp. 198-200
- The Conference on Rights and Freedom
- pp. 201-205
- Following My Green Shirt
- pp. 206-208
- The Stalled Water Truck and Other Impatience
- pp. 209-212