Like all true camel herders, he was smart, intuitive, lighthearted, and funny.
-Mohamedou Ould Slahi, The Actual True Story of Ahmed and Zarga
Ould Slahi published this fantasy, a sort of 1002nd Night- about a camel lost, tracked, and finally found- after being imprisoned at Guantánamo for 14 years in a story of false arrest, black site rendition, extraordinary methods of interrogation, unlawful detention, delayed release, etc., etc., etc…and then as a Hollywood movie and best-selling memoir. Much of The Actual True Story… Ould Slahi must have written in his head as a mental escape while being tortured, and if so…lucky that memories of his camel herding days saved his life.