In broad daylight, Saleh climbs the November 7th clock tower, a symbol of Ben Ali's regime in Tunisia, to declare the end of days. The capital's residents gather below the clock to watch the man who dared to defy the forbidden and the security forces who failed to bring him down. There, under the tower, the story of a foundling child unfolds, narrated by a group of rogues in a city run by kidnapping gangs and looting militias... and so grows the biography of the Gorilla, who awoke one day to find himself a fugitive, hunted for serious crimes.

This novel traces, in a nightmarish and scenic narrative, the reality that paved the way for the January 14th revolution, exposing a world of political and economic corruption and racial discrimination.

"This novel derives its beauty from its brutality, its violence, and from the reactions and primitiveness of its characters." - Francesco Leggio, Italian Orientalist.

Kamel Riahi is a Tunisian novelist and journalist. He was a winner in the "Beirut 39" competition organized by the Hay Festival in 2009. His novel "The Scalpel" won the Golden Comar award for Best Tunisian Novel in 2007. His works include "Memory's Gulls," "He Stole My Face," and others. His works have been translated into French, Italian, English, Hebrew, and Portuguese.

Publishing house: Dar Al Saqi for Publishing and Distribution
Number of Pages: 192
Year of publication: 2011