Advance praise

"Life's Longing for Itself is a collection of linked short stories about Syrian immigrants in Québec. Atallah's pared-down style is hypnotically absorbing, expertly carrying the authentic voices of immigrants who leave behind the warmth and familiarity of their country in hopes of better prospects, only to experience new hardships exacerbated by cultural clashes and isolation. The book is masterfully structured, building to multiple emotional sucker punches, and culminating in a quiet peace."

—Anita Anand, author of A Convergence of Solitudes

"Bassel Atallah is a brightly talented writer, and Life's Longing for Itself represents quite a remarkable literary debut. These seemingly simple, straightforwardly-told stories, rendered, by and large, in simple and direct declarative sentences, are profoundly poignant and possess a distinct hypnotic quality, pulling the reader in with the hard-won deceptive artlessness and ironclad logic of their narration. Life itself breathes in these stories."

—Mikhail Iossel, author of Sentence

"Life's Longing for Itself takes a specific community—Syrian immigrants making their way in modern-day Montreal—and, through Bassel Atallah's sure hand with intergenerational dynamics, cultural nuances, and interwoven individual narratives encompassing those who struggle as well as those who succeed, renders their experience universal. One of the strongest and most emotionally affecting debuts in years, it’s a book that should not be missed."

—Ian McGillis, author of A Tourist's Guide to Glengarry