![]() ![]() The book is divided into sections with titles such as ‘Drug Dealers and Drive Bys’. Ahmad traverses a number of issues – sex, gender, race, and religion – without being didactic. The novel shifts from witty to bleak and confronting, and then back, sometimes in the space of a few paragraphs. These sentiments are disturbing, but there is no suggestion that they are being endorsed. Some of the young men spout misogynist and anti-Semitic opinions. The author sketches his characters with precision and with a refreshing lack of moralising about their lives. The Lebs is the latest novel for Sydney writer and community arts worker Michael Mohammed Ahmad. ‘The Lebs’, as they refer to themselves, while away the hours discussing religion and politics, fantasising about or insulting teachers, and forging something like a friendship with one another. Until he finishes school, Bani bides his time with a group of mostly Muslim and Lebanese young men. These aspirations make the Lebanese-Australian teenager feel like an outsider at the testosterone-fuelled, anti-intellectual high school that he attends. Bani Adam wants to be a ‘chivalrous poet’ or a great writer. ![]()
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