Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books, 2005. dj. SIGNED hardcover first edition - The first book by this author who was born in Morocco, a "compelling collection of linked short stories of Moroccans desperate for better lives who take the risk of trusting a smuggler to carry them across the Strait of Gibraltar to Spain. When it capsizes near shore, it is everyone for themselves; Lalami then circles back to tell the stories of what led up to their attempted escapes and reveals what follows their harrowing journeys, offering telling glimpses into contemporary Morocco and perceptive renderings of the troubles that force people to leave the world they know for a strange and hostile place. . . Her story lines are evocative, her characters arresting, the settings vivid, and her voice pure and penetrating, ensuring that these striking tales of unsanctioned journeys and urgently improvised lives are at once timely and timeless." SIGNED on the title page. 195 pp. ISBN: 1-565124936.