Mano Bouzamour
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Mano Bouzamour (born 1991 in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
) is a Dutch novelist and columnist. He scored a stunning success with his first novel, ''De belofte van Pisa'' (The Promise of Pisa), in which he described his childhood and youth as the son of immigrants in the Netherlands.


Life and work

Bouzamour grew up in an immigrant family in the
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
neighborhood of De Pijp. His parents originate from
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
. He has three sisters and three brothers. His high school was the ''Reformed Lyceum South''. In 2013, when his first novel was published, he worked in a sushi bar and lived together with his girlfriend and his older brother. He intended to study history and continue writing. His literary idoles are American writers such as
J.D. Salinger Jerome David Salinger ( ; January 1, 1919 – January 27, 2010) was an American author best known for his 1951 novel ''The Catcher in the Rye''. Salinger published several short stories in '' Story'' magazine in 1940, before serving in World War ...
,
Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...
and
David Benioff David Friedman (; born September 25, 1970), known professionally as David Benioff (), is an American novelist, screenwriter, and producer. Along with his collaborator D. B. Weiss, he is best known for co-creating ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–201 ...
. He admitted that he stole ''
The Catcher in the Rye ''The Catcher in the Rye'' is the only novel by American author J. D. Salinger. It was partially published in serial form in 1945–46 before being novelized in 1951. Originally intended for adults, it is often read by adolescents for its theme ...
'' by Salinger from a Dutch library.Ally Smid:
'Ik ben niet de zoon die mijn vader wil dat ik ben'
' (I am not the son my father wants me to be),
Trouw ''Trouw'' (; ) is a Dutch daily newspaper appearing in compact size. It was founded in 1943 as an orthodox Protestant underground newspaper during World War II. Since 2009, it has been owned by DPG Media (known as De Persgroep until 2019). '' ...
, 22 december 2013 (Dutch)
In 2013, he debuted with his novel ''The Promise of Pisa''. The novel is based on how Bouzamour himself as a teenager grew up in an immigrant neighborhood surrounding De Pijp. In the book, he describes his illiterate and narrow-minded parents, being beaten in the Koran school, hanging around in youth clubs and visiting luxurious homes of classmates. In the morning the protagonist Samir played classical music on a stolen concert piano, and on Fridays, during prayers in the mosque, he struggled with fantasies of blonde and nude female devils, but his happiest hours were at night roaring through Amsterdam with his beloved brother on the Vespa. While his brother had to serve a six-year-sentence for fraud and theft Sam promised and provided — against all odds — the degree of an elite high school. The book caused an outcry within the Moroccan community as it was not conceived as fiction, but as autobiography. The author was confronted with hatred and, as he called it, ″
mass hysteria Mass psychogenic illness (MPI), also called mass sociogenic illness, mass psychogenic disorder, epidemic hysteria or mass hysteria, involves the spread of illness symptoms through a population where there is no infectious agent responsible for c ...
″, even from relatives and friends. But the Dutch public and the international press loved the book, it became the best-selling debut novel of 2014 in the Netherlands. The film, theater and radio play rights were sold, and publications in the German language and in Latin America were prepared. Bouzamour defended his novel fiercely: "Why should my protagonist not be allowed to make jokes about the sweaty feet of his mother?" The book is now on the reading list of a some secondary schools. In 2016, the book was published by the prestigious Residenz Verlag in Austria — with the German title ''Samir, genannt Sam'' (Samir, called Sam). Also was published by the independent publisher house Rey Naranjo in Spanish. In October 2019, the film adaptation of the book premiered: ''
The Promise of Pisa ''The Promise of Pisa'' () is a 2019 Dutch drama film directed by Norbert ter Hall. The film is based on the autobiographical novel by Mano Bouzamour. Plot summary & cast Plot summary Sam Zafar, called Samir at home, grows up in the Amsterda ...
''. As a columnist, he writes for ''
Het Parool ''Het Parool'' () is an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper. It was first published on 10 February 1941 as a resistance paper during the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940–1945). In English, its name means ''The Password'' or ''The Motto' ...
'', ''
Elle Elle may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication ** Elle Style Awards * Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition * Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film * ''Elle: ...
'' and ''
Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...
''.Prometheus (Dutch Publishing House):
Mano Bouzamour
', accessed 4 October 2016 (Dutch)


External links


Mano Bouzamour
official website (Dutch)

German biographic site


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouzamour, Mano 1991 births Dutch male writers Writers from Amsterdam Dutch people of Moroccan descent Living people