The description of navigating the Moroccan kleptocracy to get one of the visas alloted to the county is an example of Hammoudi's excellent narrative capability. Other highlights are his descriptions of the intimidating preparatory classes, the shopping sprees, an animal sacrifice, the oversold busses with the blaring religious tapes, the people he meets, the failings of tour operators and the pilgrims' reactions to them and the petty bureaucracy he encountered upon trying to leave Saudi Arabia.

Not all the descriptions, though, are up to this level. For instance, I couldn't envision the run between Safi and Marwa, including the "gallery" over the path. (bleachers for watching? a place with religious art?) Are there hundreds bunched the way marathons start, or in small clusters? What of the woman who cuts the lock of his hair afterward? (Can anyone just reach out and cut anyone's hair or is it arranged?) I didn't fully understand the lodgings (esp. with his gender mixed group). He does mention an air conditioned tent, but what of the other places? Motels? Temporary trailers? How did they (the women, that is) cook in them (stoves? bunsen burners?) and what of these rest rooms (down the hall? 1 for X number people? showers?) that they lined up to use?

Hammoudi is sensitive to the very second class status of women. They have all the same religious obligations as the men and have to cook too. They pray in a padlocked area. Some of the instances beg for more. For instance, he says some the women were sick because of the pills they had taken to stop menstruating (they did not want to be unclean in holy places). This is all that is written on this.

The major shortcoming, however, is Hammoudi's tendency to over-intellectualize. Much of this relates to his feelings of being an outsider. A lot of it I just couldn't follow.

Despite these limitations (and that this Hajj is in 1999), this is an insider's look at the pilgrimage, without any idealization or fluff. Hammoudi calls it as he sees it with refreshing honesty about his beliefs and feelings.

The description of navigating the Moroccan kleptocracy to get one of the visas alloted to the county is an example of Hammoudi's excellent narrative capability. Other highlights are his descriptions of the intimidating preparatory classes, the shopping sprees, an animal sacrifice, the oversold busses with the blaring religious tapes, the people he meets, the failings of tour operators and the pilgrims' reactions to them and the petty bureaucracy he encountered upon trying to leave Saudi Arabia.

Not all the descriptions, though, are up to this level. For instance, I couldn't envision the run between Safi and Marwa, including the "gallery" over the path. (bleachers for watching? a place with religious art?) Are there hundreds bunched the way marathons start, or in small clusters? What of the woman who cuts the lock of his hair afterward? (Can anyone just reach out and cut anyone's hair or is it arranged?) I didn't fully understand the lodgings (esp. with his gender mixed group). He does mention an air conditioned tent, but what of the other places? Motels? Temporary trailers? How did they (the women, that is) cook in them (stoves? bunsen burners?) and what of these rest rooms (down the hall? 1 for X number people? showers?) that they lined up to use?

Hammoudi is sensitive to the very second class status of women. They have all the same religious obligations as the men and have to cook too. They pray in a padlocked area. Some of the instances beg for more. For instance, he says some the women were sick because of the pills they had taken to stop menstruating (they did not want to be unclean in holy places). This is all that is written on this.

The major shortcoming, however, is Hammoudi's tendency to over-intellectualize. Much of this relates to his feelings of being an outsider. A lot of it I just couldn't follow.

Despite these limitations (and that this Hajj is in 1999), this is an insider's look at the pilgrimage, without any idealization or fluff. Hammoudi calls it as he sees it with refreshing honesty about his beliefs and feelings.

The description of navigating the Moroccan kleptocracy to get one of the visas alloted to the county is an example of Hammoudi's excellent narrative capability. Other highlights are his descriptions of the intimidating preparatory classes, the shopping sprees, an animal sacrifice, the oversold busses with the blaring religious tapes, the people he meets, the failings of tour operators and the pilgrims' reactions to them and the petty bureaucracy he encountered upon trying to leave Saudi Arabia.

Not all the descriptions, though, are up to this level. For instance, I couldn't envision the run between Safi and Marwa, including the "gallery" over the path. (bleachers for watching? a place with religious art?) Are there hundreds bunched the way marathons start, or in small clusters? What of the woman who cuts the lock of his hair afterward? (Can anyone just reach out and cut anyone's hair or is it arranged?) I didn't fully understand the lodgings (esp. with his gender mixed group). He does mention an air conditioned tent, but what of the other places? Motels? Temporary trailers? How did they (the women, that is) cook in them (stoves? bunsen burners?) and what of these rest rooms (down the hall? 1 for X number people? showers?) that they lined up to use?

Hammoudi is sensitive to the very second class status of women. They have all the same religious obligations as the men and have to cook too. They pray in a padlocked area. Some of the instances beg for more. For instance, he says some the women were sick because of the pills they had taken to stop menstruating (they did not want to be unclean in holy places). This is all that is written on this.

The major shortcoming, however, is Hammoudi's tendency to over-intellectualize. Much of this relates to his feelings of being an outsider. A lot of it I just couldn't follow.

Despite these limitations (and that this Hajj is in 1999), this is an insider's look at the pilgrimage, without any idealization or fluff. Hammoudi calls it as he sees it with refreshing honesty about his beliefs and feelings.