Abou and the Angel Cohen

Abou Ben Adhem, a Palestinian, copes by day with village political intrique, Arab-Israeli violence and his own family turmoil, interspersed with nightly conversations with an angel named Cohen about the roots of mankind's behavior through the ages, in this poignant and ironic novel set in Gaza in 2001.

Abou Ben Adhem, a retired goat herder and one-time taxi driver in America, is an Arab village elder living amid the turmoil of the Middle East-and family relationships that aren't so placid either. An angel named Cohen comes to Abou one night, and Cohen is slangy, modern, and full of information about mankind's behavior through the ages and its relevance to contemporary violence, customs, religious beliefs, and conflicts.

A Palestinian, copes with Arab-Israeli violence and his own family turmoil, and has nightly conversations with an angel named Cohen, in Gaza in 2001.