{"product_id":"being-abbas-el-abd-paperback","title":"Being Abbas El Abd - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eAhmed Alaidy\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"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 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. But 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?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHUMPHREY DAVIES\u003c\/strong\u003e earned his doctorate in Near Eastern Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. He is the translator of \u003cem\u003eThebes at War\u003c\/em\u003e by Naguib Mahfouz (AUC Press 2003) and \u003cem\u003eThe Yacoubian Building \u003c\/em\u003eby Alaa Al Aswany (AUC Press 2004).\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 144\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.5 x 7.8 x 4.8 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 15, 2009\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51769675153696,"sku":"9789774163098","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/9755ee662b0dd42e69f1509d51d1d585.webp?v=1780353123","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/being-abbas-el-abd-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}