Since Arabic was not taught or allowed in schools before the Algerian War, Algerian literature in Arabic before 1962 was sparse and mainly in short story format. Ahmed Reda Houhou wrote several acclaimed short stories in this period including his famous satire: "In the Company of the Wise Man’s Donkey". In fact, until 1971, with the publishing of Abdelhamid ben Hadouga’s The Southern Wind, most Algerian Arabic literature was in short story format. Other notable works at this time include Tahar Ouettar’s Laz (the Ace) in 1974 and A-Zilzel (The Earthquake) in 1976. The early 1970s Arabic novels focused primarily on the War for Independence and the transformation of Algerian society. By the 1980s, however, the themes of Algerian Arabic literature were largely similar to their French counterparts, discussing bureaucracy, religious intolerance and patriarchy. Moving into the 1990s, Algerian Arabic literature focused mainly on terrorism and the tragedy of what was called the Black Decade.