Bed Works

Press Quotes

Praise for Bed Works
“In his second novel, Bed Works, Khaled Alesmael portrays the fates of gay Arab men, inspired by true stories. Alesmael poetically refines all the material he has gathered over the years, allowing the boundaries between fact and fiction to blur. In doing so, he has created a unique work that recounts human fates that would otherwise have remained invisible. The constant threat these men experience resonates on every page. Yet, as violent and painful as the men’s experiences are, the images of tentative touches, cautious new beginnings and acts of liberation Alesmael presents are equally powerful.” ―Tagesspiegel
“In his second book, Bed Works, Syrian-born author Khaled Alesmael sketches the fates of ten gay men in the Arab world. They bear witness to shame and pain, but also to an incomparable will to live and to love. Gay men in the Arab world refuse to be destroyed, despite the fact that they continue to be humiliated, persecuted and punished for their sexual orientation across the region—from Egypt to Saudi Arabia, Iraq to Yemen. These accounts take various forms: some are presented as letters, others as narratives. The compelling stories offer deeply personal insights into what lies beyond the headlines. They unfold against the backdrop of the monumental upheavals that have swept through the region over the past thirty years: from the Arab Spring and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to the Islamic State, its rise and its fall. Throughout these narratives, moments of joy alternate with those of fear and looming threat.” ―Sonntagsblatt
“Khaled Alesmael’s Bed Works is charged with the desire to break the chains of exile. This is a message in a bottle from Arabic-speaking gay men.” ―Expressen
“Bed Works does not shy away from this horror, yet it’s always clear that Alesmael wants to counter it—writing with a sense of strength and hope about cautious glances, fleeting encounters and fragile new beginnings.” ―Queer.de
“These are shocking accounts filled with intolerance and violence. All the social hardships and experiences these men face exist in the world; they are simply silenced. Therefore, bringing visibility to homosexual people in the Arab world is absolutely urgent—and that is precisely the great merit of this book.” ―Literaturmagazin Bremen
“Alesmael describes Bed Works as a ‘fictional nonfiction’ work, a blend of fact and fiction, because ‘our memory invents stories to present us with a more complete picture of ourselves,’ and to challenge the readers’ empathy: ‘What if you were one of these men?’” ―Books are gay as fuck