After an initial lightning tour of Tangier, my mind was filled with what I had read about its most well-known writers: Muhammad Shukri, Altaher bin Jalloun, Paul Bowels, Tennessee Williams, etc., I saw more than a single city in one place with buildings carrying the styles of different periods of history. I looked at people’s faces trying in vain to identify what they express of the city’s spirit or secret. I breached the Mediterranean air along the fine corniche road