During the unity between Syria and Egypt, the people of a small village in southern Syria submit a request to the region’s directorate about their desire to establish a public library. This request raises the astonishment of the authorities, as how can a village where most of its people have left due to drought, famine, and the approaching famine want paper instead of paper? the bread?!
With a circular narrative that begins with the submission of a purchase order and ends with the bookstore’s mysterious disappearance, the stories reproduce one after another, creating the novel’s grand narrative: the story of the desire for knowledge and imagination.