Publisher's Synopsis
The American Translator: A Timely Novel in a Turbulent Globe
Welcome to the multifaceted world of David Boccaccio, the eccentric Italian-American. Meet him in The American Translator: From San Francisco to Battlefields in Iraq. He is always on the run, always drifting away from his home in San Francisco on endless journeys all over the continents, mesmerized as ever by the enticing works of art, different cultures, and the charm of translation. At last, he is driven by his curiosity to join the American army in Iraq as a translator. The story flares up. In Iraq, he is held back by a series of mysterious incidents, facing one enigma after another. Eminent dangers of all kinds are lurking, and he passes from one into another. Would he unlock the puzzles of his existence and fate? Would he survive? Would he return to his burdened wife and ill mother still waiting for him? What would happen to his family and the people he knows in the USA, Iraq, and the Middle East? The American Translator is a multidimensional literary fiction, more than a Gulf War drama. It is a novel of cross-genres where mystery, thrill, action, and suspense pop up from the narrative with surprising twists and dazzling allegories. Themes of self-discovery, love, friendship, loyalty, sacrifice, loss, cultural conflict, global peace, and survival are explicit and tacit. As there are no simple answers or easy ways out, some sarcasm and laughter resonate therein too- just for life to continue. The story unfolds in different settings- predominantly in Little Italy near the Fisherman Wharf in San Francisco, Iraqi villages around the palm groves by the Euphrates River, fatal battlefields, and a fortified huge military camp in the middle of a vast desert. Other places, ancient and contemporary, are featured as well. Vivid cinematic descriptions of the scenery are among the characteristics of this work. Ahmed Mahdi Alshuwaikhat presents a timely novel in a turbulent globe striving for peace. The author earned his M.A. in English and Multicultural Education from the University of San Francisco and his Ph.D. from Standard University in the field of the Sociology of Language and Education. This has placed him in the academic world as a university teacher. However, after a short academic career, he opted to pursue cultural projects of his own. He has recently devoted his time to writing and traveling. THE AMERICAN TRANSLATOR is his debut in English; his other three novels are in the Arabic language. His main literary concerns center around the alienation of individuals, cultural change, cultural conflict, and dialogue.
