Naguib Mahfouz (Arabic author profile: ) was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature. He published over 50 novels, over 350 short stories, dozens of movie scripts, and five plays over a 70-year career. Many of his works have been made into Egyptian and foreign films.
I wasn't expecting much when I snagged this book off the "new" shelf at the library, but I have to say that I found this novel to be the most compelling Mahfouz writing I've encountered. It's certainly less picturesque than the Cairo Trilogy, but UNLIKE the Cairo Trilogy you don't have to "get" Egypt to understand the driving forces behind the novel. Does it help? Sure, especially if you have any fluency in modern Egyptian history or have gone head-to-head with the Egyptian bureaucracy. I was stunned to realize just how pertinent Mahfouz's observations - made in 1945! - are to modern Cairo. This thoughtful novel makes "The Yacoubian Building" look like a third grader's summer vacation essay. Wish I could read it in Arabic.