‘That You May be Abbas Al-Abd’

The Daily Star‘s Youssef Rakha has a profile of Saudi-born Egyptian author Ahmed Al-Aidi’s new book An Takoun Abbas Al-Abd, called “perhaps the first truly popular novel to appear in Egypt since the 1950s.” The novel uses pop cultural references to The Matrix, CNN and Friends, a meandering plot, an interesting blend of the latest English slang into Arabic, and seems to be modelled on cult classic Fight Club. Of the book, Rakha says it is

something that highbrow authors, who have written without the benefit of a viable readership for half a century, would not have thought to produce.

It certainly sounds quite different from the usual Egyptian literary fare, and now I’m curious. Someone, please send me a copy.