Rawi Hage's breathtaking novel ells the stot of two young men struggking to survive in war-torn Beirut in the mid-80s. Childhood best friends, Lebanese Christian boys Bassam and George are faced with a choice: leave home and take their changes in a foreign city, or join the corrupt militia and try to gain a foothold in Beirut. Bassam becomes obsessed with emigration, and commits a series of petty crimes to fund his flight, while George amasses power in the milita-ruled underworld, living a life of violence and crime for profit. Inevitably, their separate paths collide, explosively and tragically.
