Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes

Author/Guide: Kamal Al-Solaylee

Why a Booktrail?

1960s onwards: The story of a gay man living in an intolerant country

ISBN: 978-1554688876
Genre: Autobiography/memoirs

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What you need to know before your trail

Yemen – In the 1960s, Kamal Al-Solaylee’ s father was one of the wealthiest property owners in Aden, in the south of the country. However political changes were underfoot and soon the country was changing beyond recognition. Properties were confiscated, freedoms ended and so the family fled, first to Beirut and then to Cairo. But the tide of Islamic extremism was right behind them. They returned to Yemen, still culturally isolated from the rest of the world.
Sadly this was only the beginning of a journey of persecution for Al-Solaylee. A gay man living in an intolerant country, he escaped first to England and eventually to Canada, where he became a prominent journalist and academic.
Meanwhile, his family were at the mercy of a hard line interpretation of Islam sweeping the world.

Locations

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Egypt
C: Cairo - Tahrir Square

Canada
D: ON - Toronto - CN Tower

Travel Guide

This is a true and humbling journey of escape and salvation. An Arab family, a gay man, trying to live their lives but being hounded for their freedom and beliefs. From Yemen, their home,they flee to Beirut, Cairo, England and Canada and in each location, have a story to tell. Each destination is a chapter in their lives which helps them to look back and see how the world is changing around them and how it is changing them.

The author moves from each place and often returns, marvelling at the changes which have taken place since he left, the everyday occurrences which would be considered odd in The Middle East but which are so accepted in England and Canada for example. He considers the changing face of Islamism and shows a human side to how this extreme form of the religion is having an effect on the Arab world as well as the West.

While the author was enjoying the cultural and personal freedoms of life in the West, his once-liberal family slowly fell into the hard-line interpretations of Islam that were sweeping large parts of the Arab-Muslim world in the 1980s and 1990s. The differences between his life and theirs were brought into sharp relief by the 2011 revolution in Egypt and the civil war in Yemen.