Review
"The millennial generation's most celebrated literary achievement." - Al-Ahram Weekly "The first glimmer of hope for a true fictional renaissance - an instantly rewarding read embraced by an unprecedented range of literary figures" - The Daily Star"
Product Description
'What is madness?' asks the narrator of Ahmed Alaidy's jittery, funny, and angry new novel, Being Abbas el Abd. Assuring readers that they are about to find out, the narrator takes us on his subsequent itinerary through the insanity of present-day Cairo: in and out of minibuses, malls, and crash pads. Despite sniper fire from multiple sources (traffic cops, buxom but inaccessible co-eds, minibus barkers drumming belly-dance rhythms on the paneling of their vehicles, and others) the narrator navigates the city's pinball machine of social life with tolerable efficiency, and is ever readywith a withering response.