The Madman

Gibran's first book written in English, published in 1918, is a collection of short parables and prose poems. In the opening piece a man discovers that his masks have been stolen; as he runs through the streets bare-faced, the sun kisses his face for the first time, and he becomes the madman of the title, free and alone. The tales that follow are brief, ironic and often bitter, about hypocrisy, pride and loneliness.

Illustrated with Gibran's own drawings, The Madman is darker and sharper than The Prophet, which came five years later, and it shows him finding the voice of the wise outsider that made him famous. Most pieces are only a page long, so it is an easy book to dip into.

Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) was born in Bsharri in Mount Lebanon and emigrated to Boston with his family at twelve. He first wrote in Arabic, including The Broken Wings, an early Arabic novel, then in English, where The Prophet (1923) became one of the most translated books of the century.

With Mikhail Naimy and Elia Abu Madi he founded the Pen League in New York, which renewed Arabic writing in the diaspora.