The Pillar of Salt

Originally published in 1955, The Pillar of Salt the semi-autobiographical novel about a young boy growing up in French colonized Tunisia. To gain access to privileged French society, he must reject his many identities – Jew, Arab, and African. But, on the eve of World War II, he is forced to come to terms with his loyalties and his past'His father an Italian Jew, his mother a Berber, Benillouche struggles on the tattered fringe of the Tunisian ghetto for the very air he breathes. . . . A mature, thoughtful book.' – The New York Times

"Told with clarity of vision, a passionate sense of justice, and a warm heart." – New York Herald Tribune

"In the Celine-Sartre-Camus tradition of the contemporary French novel of despair, this autobiographical narrative has maturity, stylistic grace, and purpose ... A thoughtful, perceptive work." – Library Journal Albert Memmi is the author of many books, including The Colonizer and the Colonized (also available from Beacon Press) and Arab and Jew.