{"product_id":"being-abbas-el-abd-a-modern-egyptian-novel-paperback","title":"Being Abbas El Abd: A Modern Egyptian Novel - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eAhmed Alaidy\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eHumphrey Davies\u003c\/b\u003e (Translator)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA cult classic in modern Arab literature, filled with black humor and satire, reissued in a new edition\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"What this inventive and mad novel portrays is the split within Egyptian society, torn between religiosity and liberation.\"--Robert Solé, \u003ci\u003eLe Monde\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"What is madness?\" asks the narrator of Ahmed Alaidy's jittery, funny, and angry novel. Assuring readers that they are about to find out, the narrator takes us on a journey through the insanity of present-day Cairo--in and out of minibuses, malls, and crash pads, navigating the city's pinball machine of social life with tolerable efficiency. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBut lurking under the rocks in his grouchy, chain-smoking, pharmaceutically-oriented, twenty-something life are characters like his elusive psychiatrist uncle with a disturbing interest in phobias. And then there's Abbas, the narrator's best friend who surfaces at critical moments to drive our hero into uncontrollably multiplying difficulties. For instance, there's the ticklish situation with the simultaneous blind-dates Abbas has set up for him on different levels of a coffee-shop in a Cairo mall with two girls both called Hind. With friends like Abbas, what paranoiac needs enemies?\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAhmed Alaidy\u003c\/b\u003e is an Egyptian novelist, screenwriter, director, and short-story writer. He has participated in international writing workshops at the University of Iowa and the University of Hong Kong, written for publications including \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, and his latest documentary has been released on Netflix MENA. His debut novel \u003ci\u003eBeing Abbas el Abd \u003c\/i\u003ewas translated into seven languages. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eHumphrey Davies \u003c\/b\u003e(1947-2021) was an award-winning literary translator of Arabic into English. He received a first class honors degree in Arabic at Cambridge University and a doctorate in Near East Studies from the University of California at Berkeley. He won and was shortlisted for numerous literary prizes, and was twice awarded the prestigious Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation. He translated Naguib Mahfouz, Elias Khoury, Mourid Barghouti, Alaa Al Aswany, and Bahaa Taher, among others.\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 144\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.33 x 8 x 5.25 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 01, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52204434915623,"sku":"9781649035677","price":20.47,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1002\/2079\/7223\/files\/Fqm125agPU9781649035677.webp?v=1790815870","url":"https:\/\/theluminousbookshop.com\/es\/products\/being-abbas-el-abd-a-modern-egyptian-novel-paperback","provider":"The Luminous Book Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}