Alaa al-Aswany (Arabic: 毓賱丕亍 丕賱兀爻賵丕賳賷鈥�), Egyptian Arabic (Masri) "毓賱丕亍 丕賱丕爻賵丕賳賶" (born 1957) is an Egyptian writer, and a founding member of the political movement Kefaya.
Trained as a dentist in Egypt and Chicago, it took him 9 years to earn his degree from Chicago National University where he spent 17 years in his life, al-Aswany has contributed numerous articles to Egyptian newspapers on literature, politics, and social issues. His second novel, The Yacoubian Building, an ironic depiction of modern Egyptian society, has been widely read in Egypt and throughout the Middle East. It has been translated into English, Danish, Finnish, French, Norwegian, Greek and Dutch, and was adapted into a film (2006) and a television series (2007) of the same name. Chicago, a novel set in the city in which the author was educated, was published in January 2007. Al-Aswany participated in the Blue Metropolis in Montreal, June 2008, and was featured in interviews with the CBC programme "Writers and Company".
Other forms of name: Alaa al-Aswani, Alaa El Aswany, Ala Aswani, Ala El Aswani
I really liked this book! I found this book by accident, and Mr. al Aswany is just a beautiful writer. The conversation flows and by the end of the book, I wasn't ready to let go of these characters. I've always been interested in the immigrant experience and to watch it unfold among people from Egypt, living in my hometown was really fascinating. I'm an expatriate living overseas in Europe now so I can really identify with these people's lives on a lot of levels -- but not all. His intimate knowledge of Chicago's neighborhoods is very good as well. I highly recommend it -- it will teach you a lot about yourself and human nature.
This book is amazing on its own merits, but the circumstances surrounding my reading of the book are very fortuitous and worth mentioning. I spent the first 2 weeks of February in Chicago due to a medical emergency (not mine) and I ran out of books to read so I bought this one at Borders because it looked interesting. Meanwhile, during this time the historic events in Egypt were unfolding. As it happens, "Chicago" is a story of Egyptians in Chicago, and much of it concerns the discontent of those Egyptian citizens regarding the dictatorship. The book was first published in October of 2009, but it is perhaps even more significant today.
The author is more famous for "The Yacoubian Building" which I attempted to read and discarded before finishing. It was hard to believe it was the same author. This book is funny, sad, romantic, sexy, suspenseful, dramatic, and very interesting. The story follows several Egyptian professors at a prestigious university and several Egyptian students at that same school. Some of the characters have been in the States for 20-30 years, and other just arrived. The perspectives of each are so interesting. My rating is 4 instead of 5 only because I thought some of the characters' endings were contrived. It was as if the editors told the author that he had to close out each story without leaving any loose ends. Otherwise this was an entertaining and informative book which just couldn't be more timely.