In his final years, Egyptian Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz distilled his storyteller's art to its most essential level. Written with the compression and power of dreams, these poetic vignettes, originally collected in two books, "The Dreams" and "Dreams of Departure," here combined in one volume for the first time.
These stories telescope epic tales into tersely haunting miniatures. A man finds his neighborhood has turned into a circus, but his joy turns to anger when he cannot escape it. An obscure writer finally achieves fame-through the epitaph on his grave. A group of friends telling jokes in an alley face the murderous revenge of an ancient Egyptian queen. Figures from Mahfouz's past-women he loved, men who inspired him, even fictional characters from his own novels-float through tales dreamed by a mind too fertile ever to rest, even in sleep.
Translated by Raymond Stock
- ISBN10 9774166043
- ISBN13 9789774166044
- Publish Date 30 April 2013 (first published 31 December 1999)
- Publish Status Unknown
- Out of Print 27 January 2021
- Publish Country EG
- Imprint The American University in Cairo Press
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Language English