The Mahfouz Dialogs
Gamal al-Ghitani, author
Humphrey Davies, translator
The American University in Cairo Press
c/o International Publishers Marketing
22841 Quicksilver Drive, Dulles, VA 20166
9789774161278, $22.95 www.aucpress.com 1-800-758-3756
The Mahfouz Dialogs collects memories, views, and jokes of Naguib
Mahfouz (1911-2006), winner of the Nobel prize for literature, the first
writer in Arabic to earn a mass audience, and a target of fundamentalist
assassins in his elder years, in part for daring to voice such beliefs
as "No blasphemy harms Islam and Muslims so much as the call for
murdering a writer" in response to the fatwa to murder author
Salman Rushdie. Touching on topics ranging from politics to the
connection between Mahfouz's novels and his life to human
idiosyncracy, The Mahfouz Dialogs is garnered from informal meetings
between Mahfouz and his intimate friends over the course of nearly half
a century. Moderated by novelist Gamal al-Ghitani and skillfully
translated into English by Humphrey Davies, The Mahfouz Dialogs is a
"must-read" for anyone seeking to understand this pioneering
and influential author. Highly recommended.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Midwest Book
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NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.