EXCERPT I saw the city being transformed into a witch’s cauldron. The cauldron and all it contained boiled and boiled and spun around and around in a whirlpool of bloody shrieks. Meanwhile, bullets pierced through every mouth that wished to utter anything contrary to the logic of the bullets themselves. —Ghada Samman We encounter our eighth dinomaniac exploring the cauldron, an object whose basic details are quite familiar: the black cast-iron pot over the open fire, sometimes equipped with lid or handle, the scaldingly hot temperatures, the riot of bubbles, the diced herbs (mostly sage, camphor, clove, or skullcap), or body parts of various creatures (mostly small, amphibious, unsavoury), or burnt petitions (paper scraps with wishes inscribed upon them) …