Fall2008_catalog_cover_final:Catalog_coverFall2008_final 18.08.2008 12:19 Uhr Page 1 Arabic Literature in Translation Archaeology and Ancient Egypt Architecture and the Arts History and Biography Language Studies Politics, Economics, and Social Issues Religious Studies Travel Literature and Guidebooks 2008 Complete Catalog Fall Catalog_fall_2008_Q7:catalog_fall_2008 24.07.2008 11:27 Uhr Page 1 Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz Khan al-Khalili Naguib Mahfouz Also by Naguib Mahfouz: A Modern Arabic Novel Cairo Modern Translated by Roger Allen Morning and Evening Talk A major early novel by the Egyptian Nobel Laureate The Complete Mahfouz Library: The time is 1942, the Second World War is at its The 25 Fiction Volumes of the height, and the Africa Campaign is raging along the Nobel Laureate in English northern coast of Egypt as far as El Alamein. Against this backdrop of international upheaval, the novel tells the story of the Akifs, a middle-class family that has taken refuge in Cairo’s historic and bustling Khan al-Khalili neighborhood. Believing that the German forces will never bomb such a famously religious part of the city, they seek safety among the crowded alleyways, busy cafés, and ancient mosques of the Khan, adjacent to the area where Mahfouz himself spent much of his young life. Through the eyes of Ahmad, the eldest Akif son and the novel’s central character, Mahfouz presents a richly textured vision of the Khan, drawing on his own memories to assemble a lively cast of characters whose world is framed by the sights, smells, and flavors of his childhood home. Naguib Mahfouz (1911–2006) was born in the crowded Cairo district of Gamaliya. He wrote nearly 40 novel- length works, plus hundreds of short stories and numerous screenplays. He was awarded the Nobel prize for literature in 1988. Roger Allen is professor of Arabic language and literature at the University of Pennsylvania. Original Arabic title: Khan al-Khalili 304pp. Hbd. September. 978-977-416-191-9. LE90 / $24.95. World. arabic literature 1 Catalog_fall_2008_Q7:catalog_fall_2008 24.08.2008 14:27 Uhr Page 2 The Zafarani Files As Doha Said Gamal al-Ghitani Bahaa Taher A Modern Arabic Novel A Modern Arabic Novel Translated by Farouk Abdel Wahab Translated by Peter Daniel The intrigues of an old Cairo quarter, in a parable A tale of post-revolutionary disillusionment from about political and personal freedoms the winner of the first Arabic Booker Award An unknown observer is watching the residents of In Egypt a new era has dawned, but the dawn has a small, closely-knit neighborhood in Cairo’s old taken an ominous turn. President Gamal Abdel city, making notes. The college graduate, the street Nasser has just proclaimed the first in a series of vendors, the political prisoner, the café owner, the nationalization decrees, the stock exchange has taxi driver, the beautiful green-eyed young wife with shut down, and its parking attendant, Sayyid, is the troll of a husband—all are subjects of surveil- staring at penury. Across the street, the office of the lance. The watcher’s reports flow seamlessly into Ministry’s Supervisory Board of Administrative a narrative about Zafarani Alley, a village tucked Organization is engulfed in an eerie silence, and into a corner of the city, where intrigue is the main the narrator, one of the two remaining fulltime entertainment, and everyone has a secret. occupants of that nearly defunct government office, Suspicion, superstition, and a wicked humor has fallen desperately in love with the other, prevail in this darkly comedic novel. Drawing upon Doha—forceful, erudite, and, a complete enigma, the experience of his own childhood growing up with a spiritual bond to the Egyptian goddess Aset. in al-Hussein, where the fictional Zafarani Alley is In this sophisticated, richly textured novel the located, Gamal al-Ghitani has created a world author explores such themes as apathy and despair, richly populated with characters and situations that courage and self-sacrifice, ambition and temptation, possess authenticity behind their veils of satire. disillusionment and political faith, and, above all, commitment and betrayal. Gamal al-Ghitani, born in 1945, is the author of The Mahfouz Dialogs (AUC Press, 2007), Zayni Barakat (AUC Bahaa Taher is the author of Love in Exile (AUC Press, paper- Press, 2004), and Pyramid Texts (AUC Press, 2007). He is back edition 2005). In 2008 he was awarded the first editor-in-chief of the literary review Akhbar al-adab. International Prize for Arabic Fiction (the ‘Arabic Booker’). Farouk Abdel Wahab is the translator of Alaa Al Aswany’s Peter Daniel, a freelance translator, has taught Arabic as a Chicago (AUC Press, 2007). foreign language in Cairo for many years. Original Arabic title: Waqa’i‘ Harat al-Za‘farani Original Arabic title: Qalat Duha 340pp. Hbd. 160pp. Hbd. November. 978-977-416-190-2. LE90 / $24.95. World. November. 978-977-416-209-1. LE80 / $22.95. World. 2 arabic literature Catalog_fall_2008_Q7:catalog_fall_2008 27.07.2008 11:39 Uhr Page 3 Moon over Samarqand The Seven Veils of Seth Mohamed al-Mansi Qandil Ibrahim al-Koni A Modern Arabic Novel A Modern Arabic Novel Translated by Jennifer Peterson Translated by William M. Hutchins An unusual novel of idealism, power, From the award-winning author of Anubis and brutality in Uzbekistan and Egypt and Gold Dust A journey through Central Asia and beyond, Moon In the ancient Egyptian religion, Seth is the evil god over Samarqand is the story of one Egyptian’s quest who out of jealousy slays his brother Osiris, the good for the truth. Seeking explanations to his troubled god of agriculture, to seize the throne. Seth is, however, past through a long-lost friend in Samarqand, Ali’s also the god of the desert and therefore a benevolent travel brings him into encounters with the Uzbekistan champion of desert dwellers like the traditionally of today, yesterday, and once upon a time. His tale nomadic Tuareg. In The Seven Veils of Seth, al-Koni embraces many tales—those of his confounding draws on the tension between these two opposing taxi driver, of Islamic activists, and of the criminal visions of Seth to create a novel that also provides a underworld, as well as stories of struggles against vivid account of daily life in a Tuareg oasis. authoritarianism in Egypt. Woven among these are Isan—either Seth himself or a latter-day avatar— legendary tales of gypsies, khans, and madmen, of is a desert-wandering seer and proponent of desert magic, treasure, and love. life. When he settles for an extended stay in a fertile Drawing parallels between Uzbekistan and Egypt, oasis, the results are disastrous, and we encounter the novel shows diverse historical and modern con- infanticide, betrayal, metamorphosis, and murder. nections between Central Asia and the Arab world, Tuareg folklore, Egyptian mythology, Russian painting a vivid portrayal of idealistic visionaries and literature, and medieval European thought are all part brutal regimes. of this existential reflection on life in which the truth Moon over Samarqand received the 2006 Sawiris is elusive, a mirage pulsing at the horizon. Foundation Award for Literature. Ibrahim al-Koni was born in Libya in 1948. His novel Anubis Mohamed al-Mansi Qandil was born in 1949 in the was published by the AUC Press in 2005, and Gold Dust in Egyptian Delta city of al-Mahalla al-Kubra. He lives in 2008. He was awarded the Sheikh Zayed Prize for Literature Kuwait with his wife and son, where he writes for the in 2008. monthly magazine al-‘Arabi. William M. Hutchins is the principal translator of Naguib Jennifer Peterson is an independent researcher, writer, and Mahfouz’s Cairo Trilogy, and has most recently translated translator residing in Cairo. Fadhil al-Azzawi’s Cell Block Five (AUC Press, 2008). Original Arabic title: Qamar ‘ala Samarqand Original Arabic title: al-Bahth ‘an al-makan al-da’i‘ 432pp. Hbd. 312pp. Hbd. December. 978-977-416-189-6. LE90 / $29.95. World. November. 978-977-416-222-0. LE90 / $24.95. Middle East. arabic literature 3 Catalog_fall_2008_Q7:catalog_fall_2008 27.07.2008 12:00 Uhr Page 4 Gazelle Tracks Granada Miral al-Tahawy Radwa Ashour A Modern Arabic Novel A Modern Arabic Novel Translated by Anthony Calderbank Translated by William Granara From the author of The Tent and Blue Aubergine A powerful novel of cultural loss and the dissapear- ance of a vanquished population This short but cleverly crafted novel recounts the tale of Muhra, a young woman born of the descendants At the end of the fifteenth century, the keys to Granada, of the Bedouin tribes who settled in Egypt’s Nile Delta the last Muslim state in the Iberian Peninsula, have in the nineteenth century. been handed over to the Christian king and queen. Past mingles with present and myth and folklore Abu Jaafar the bookbinder watches Christopher blend with reality, as Muhra seeks to discover the truth Columbus and his entourage in a triumphant parade about her mother through the old family photographs of exotic plants, animals, and human captives from that adorn the walls of her grandfather’s house and other the Americas. But as Spain celebrates the acquisition documents hidden away in cupboards and drawers. of a new world, Muslims and Jews throughout the Muhra’s tale of self-discovery is set against the country are mourning the loss of an old one, and now dwindling fortunes of her own people as they struggle face confiscations, forced conversions, and expulsions. to preserve their identity and culture amid the larger As the new masters of Granada burn books, Abu Egyptian community that encroaches upon them. Jaafar quietly moves his rich library out of town.