In Egypt a new era has dawned, but the dawn has taken an ominous turn. President Gamal Abdel Nasser has just proclaimed the first in a series of nationalization decrees, the stock exchange has shut down, and its parking attendant, Sayyid, is staring at penury. Across the street, the office of the Ministry's Supervisory Board of Administrative Organization is engulfed in an eerie silence, and the narrator, one of the two remaining fulltime occupants of that nearly defunct government office, has fallen desperately in love with the other, Doha-forceful, erudite, and, a complete enigma, with a spiritual bond to the Egyptian goddess Aset.
In this sophisticated, richly textured novel the author explores such themes as apathy and despair, courage and self-sacrifice, ambition and temptation, disillusionment and political faith, and, above all, commitment and betrayal.

A tale of post-revolutionary disillusionment from the winner of the first Arabic Booker Award

About the Author

Bahaa Taher is the author of Love in Exile (AUC Press, paperback edition 2005). In 2008 he was awarded the first International Prize for Arabic Fiction (the 'Arabic Booker').

Peter Daniel, a long-term resident of Egypt, has worked as a teacher of Arabic as a foreign language and an Arabic-to-English translator for many years.

Book Information
ISBN 9789774162091
Author Bahaa Taher
Format Hardback
Page Count 152
Imprint The American University in Cairo Press
Publisher The American University in Cairo Press
Weight(grams) 325g