Mai Ghoussoub—artist, writer, and co-founder of Saqi Books—commented widely on culture, aesthetics, and the Middle East, and published many books in English, Arabic, and French. Gathered here is a selection of her finest writings—on war (in the Middle East and elsewhere), the sexist gaze, censorship, Abu Ghraib, the city, and art’s encounter with tragedy—laced throughout with Ghoussoub’s signature humor and an enduring sense of humanity.

Mai Ghoussoub (1952–2007), artist, author, playwright, and founding director of Saqi Books, was born in Lebanon and moved to London in 1979, during the Lebanese civil war.