11-28-08 The Caliph's House by Tahir Shah - Non-Fiction

5 - First, Thank You Liz! Liz recommended this to me and even loaned me her copy so I could read it. this is not only a story about severe culture clash, but The Caliph's House brings the culture, pace, politics, and art of Casablanca clearly to your mind. Tahir Shah, a Brit of Afghan descent, moves his family to Dar Khalifa, the Caliph's House, in Casablanca, Morocco. Shah commits numerous missteps while trying to renovate the house. He has to learn to deal with Jinns, deal with the staff, learn the ins and outs of shopping in Morocco, deal with the local Godfather, and try to keep his wife from divorcing him for moving her into what becomes an eternal construction zone, or "madhouse" as she refers to it in the book. But his stories and descriptions bring to life the beauty of Morocco so completely you will fall in love with the country just as he did.