News at Eleven: In [Ninar] Esber's telling, and by Adonis'

own admission, the poet was often away from home, or at home only in a nominal sense, because tucked away in a book. He was determined not to be a stereotypical father ("The father in Arab culture is a scaled-down image of God Almighty," he claims), and was in any case devoted first of all to his poetry. But despite his absence, in Esber's memory he looms very large.

from The National: Song of myself

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