il-ktieb tas-sibt filgħaxija

the book for saturday evening

In 1993 Immanuel Mifsud published his second book - Il-Ktieb tas-Sibt Filghaxija (The Book for Saturday Evening) - another collection of short stories.

In this book the characters are more down to earth, more rounded and the focus lies on the common man in the street rather than the drop out. The time scale has remained the 1980s, so much so that in his foreword Mifsud states that he shifted focus to people he sees and meets at cafes and other public places. The stories recount these characters' private lives and what happens to them every Saturday evening.

The mushrooming of private radio stations in Malta after the liberalisation of the media in the early nineties paved the way to public confessions of lonely people who sought refuge in throwing their woes on air in late night talk shows which suddenly became very popular with the Maltese. Liberalisation had this effect, which, inspired by the writings of Michel Foucault, Mifsud saw them as yet another form of power subjecting the individual to public confessions.

Il-Ktieb tas-Sibt Filgħaxija is populated with characters who are trying to make sense out of the boredom of every day life. Saturday night fever
takes hold of them, but then Sunday morning follows and after that, alas, it is always Monday which dawns full of promises of yet another boring and monotonous week.

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