The title "Love and Other Calamities" was chosen by the author Abdullah Hussein Al-Zaabi for his book, which brings together calamities hidden behind masks in a sarcastic critical form. It captures snapshots or reflections of individual stories where characters hide behind masks, intersecting with the diverse and contrasting images of life. Much of it is humorous, but in its depth, it carries a calamity that any person, even the wise, could suffer from. It's life with its complexities, its faces, and masks that Abdullah Hussein Al-Zaabi recreates through texts that turn the absurdity of reality into tales told, pure tales that shouldn't be lived. Al-Zaabi says about his work: "I can't call them stories... that's what I concluded when I finished writing this collection. It's 'calamities' as most of the characters suffer a certain calamity or are calamities themselves in flesh and blood, and the fear is that the reader might find themselves embodied in them. Another point is that critics informed me I did not adhere to known story standards, and they might be right, but I don't believe there are standards for the adventure of fingers on the keyboard. To preempt any accusations of distorting the art of storytelling, I declare boldly: these are not stories, they're 'calamities,' and to my knowledge, there are no standards for writing calamities yet." The book includes twenty "calamities" with different titles such as: "The Caller Who Knows All Scandals," "The Long-Fingered Owner," "Stoners Without Borders," "Naked in the Imam's House," "The Conversation That Made the Sleeping Prisoner Cry," "Love and Other Calamities," "Truth is Not Only Bitter," and others, each reflecting a different human condition.

Publishing house: Arab Scientific Publishers/Lebanon

Number of Pages: 109

Year of publication: 2011