Returning to his home town of Ramallah after long exile, the author is
shocked to find the changes wrought, above all, by the Israeli
occupation. An account--informative, lyrical and humorous by turn--of
his own early life in the town is interwoven with vivid descriptions of
the place then and now, against a background of the town's long and
varied history. A poignant evocation of time passing is joined to a
sense of the brutal disruption brought about by the ongoing political
situation.