Just an Ashtray

This autobiography is much more than a life story. Some people in politics, public service or in the world of arts may write their autobiography for personal purposes, so to speak. Some may think that their knowledge of characters in society, politics or business may recast an aura of importance on their own career or position in life. But this autobiography by Samīḥ Al-Qāsim is more of a panorama about the life of the intellectual, living almost like a prisoner in his own homeland, under the occupation of a foreign power, which has, for decades, affected his life, and the life of the average Palestinian, in a manner that has usurped the basic aspects of liberty and dignified life.