Larabi's Ox: Stories of Morocco

In the title story, a bus carrying passengers newly arrived in Morocco from the airport at Casablanca to Rabat hits an ox. As the driver and a passing farm boy attempt to get the dead animal off the road so the bus can continue, the passengers look around them. Readers see their reactions to the incident, and their impressions of one another. Thus, ingeniously, we are introduced to the major players in these 14 related tales--three Americans who refuse to fall prey to the typical tourist attractions. They give to beggars with their eyes wide open, anxious for blessings they suspect are meaningless. It is through such stubborn sensitivity that their personalities, dreams and failures are revealed. Portraying three lives in crisis, the stories center on introspective moments, and often transform our cliches of tourism. With the collection set in a Moroccan landscape, it's difficult for readers to escape echoes of Paul Bowles, but the focus here is so clearly on an egotistical American perspective at odds with native culture that Ardizzone is able to offer fresh insights. His previous collection, The Evening News, won the Flannery O'Connor Award. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Sept.)