Meursault Investigation
Shortlisted for the Prix Goncourt
Winner of the Goncourt du Premier Roman
Winner of the Prix des Cinq Continents
Winner of the Prix François Mauriac
THE NOVEL THAT HAS TAKEN THE INTERNATIONAL LITERARY WORLD BY STORM
He was the brother of ‘the Arab’ killed by the infamous Meursault, the antihero of Camus’s classic novel. Angry at the world and his own unending solitude, he resolves to bring his brother out of obscurity by giving him a name – Musa – and a voice, and by describing the events that led to his senseless murder on a dazzling Algerian beach. A worthy complement to its great predecessor, The Meursault Investigation is not only a profound meditation on Arab identity and the disastrous effects of colonialism in Algeria, but also a stunning work of literature in its own right, told in a unique and affecting voice.
Kamel Daoud is an Algerian journalist based in Oran, where he writes for the Quotidien d’Oran – the third largest French-language Algerian newspaper. He contributes a weekly column to Le Point, and his articles have appeared in Libération, Le Monde, Courrier International, and are regularly reprinted around the world. International rights to the novel have been sold in twenty countries.
John Cullen is the translator of many books from Spanish, French, German, and Italian, including Philippe Claudel's Brodeck, Juli Zeh's Decompression, Yasmina Reza's Happy Are the Happy, and Chantal Thomas's The Exchange of Princesses. He lives in New York.