{"product_id":"the-yacoubian-building-a-novel-isbn-9780060878139","title":"The Yacoubian Building: A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"A bewitching political novel of contemporary Cairo that is also an \u003cem\u003eengagé\u003c\/em\u003e novel about sex, a romantic novel about power and a comic yet sympathetic novel about the vagaries of the human heart. Even the least politically oriented reader will find it engrossing.\"\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e  — \u003cem\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThese disparate lives careen toward an explosive conclusion in Alaa Al Aswany's remarkable international bestseller. Teeming with frank sexuality and heartfelt compassion, this book is an important window on to the experience of loss and love in the Arab world.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAll manner of flawed and fragile humanity reside in the Yacoubian Building, a once-elegant temple of Art Deco splendor now slowly decaying in the smog and bustle of downtown Cairo: a fading aristocrat and self-proclaimed \"scientist of women\"; a sultry, voluptuous siren; a devout young student, feeling the irresistible pull toward fundamentalism; a newspaper editor helplessly in love with a policeman; a corrupt and corpulent politician, twisting the Koran to justify his desires.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cblockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis controversial bestselling novel in the Arab world reveals the political corruption, sexual repression, religious extremism, and modern hopes of Egypt today. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\u003cp\u003eAll manner of flawed and fragile humanity reside in the Yacoubian Building, a once-elegant temple of Art Deco splendor now slowly decaying in the smog and bustle of downtown Cairo: a fading aristocrat and self-proclaimed \"scientist of women\"; a sultry, voluptuous siren; a devout young student, feeling the irresistible pull toward fundamentalism; a newspaper editor helplessly in love with a policeman; a corrupt and corpulent politician, twisting the Koran to justify his desires. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese disparate lives careen toward an explosive conclusion in Alaa Al Aswany's remarkable international bestseller. Teeming with frank sexuality and heartfelt compassion, this book is an important window on to the experience of loss and love in the Arab world.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“Captivating and controversial  .. . .an amazing glimpse of modern Egyptian society and culture.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“With its interlocking vignettes and intertwining characters, Alaa al-Aswany’s hip and racy novel creates a complex narrative of contemporary Egyptian life.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKaelen Wilson-Goldie, The Daily Star (Beirut)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Richly peppered with complex characters. . . . A provocative survey of the social and political pressures of the present that has many Egyptians looking nostalgically to their more tolerant and hopeful past.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLisa Ko, author of The Leavers\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Delves into a mix of power, corruption, sex, exploitation, poverty and extremism . . . lucidly capturing the varied aspects of Egyptian life: straight, gay, rich, poor, powerful, powerless.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEgypt Today\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“No other Egyptian, or Arab writer for that matter, has so boldly broken through the literary stagnation of the last 50 years by addressing these themes. Except perhaps Naguib Mahfouz, the Nobel Laureate who penned the Cairo Trilogy in the 1950s.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSaad Eddin Ibrahim, Foreign Policy Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“[L]ike the late Naguib Mahfouz, Alaa Al Aswany is a world writer, making Egyptian concerns into human ones and beautifully illuminating our always extraordinary and sometimes sad and baffling world.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Times (London)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“[A] frank and hilarious soap opera set to an Arabic beat.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMinneapolis Star Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“[A] hilarious, sensual, bawdy and beautiful novel.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNerve\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“All novels contain invisible cities, even those set in actual metropolises. \u003cem\u003eUlysses\u003c\/em\u003e does not unfold in Ireland but in James Joyce’s mind. The same goes for the sprawling, heaving Cairo depicted in Alaa Al Aswany’s tremendously likable new novel. . . . Occasionally it seems as if an indiscreet superintendent, jangling keys and all, is taking us around the Yacoubian Building, whispering about secrets hushed up. This vision of life connects high with low, rich with poor, through shared vices and needs.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJohn Freeman, San Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A bewitching political novel of contemporary Cairo that is also an \u003cem\u003eengagé\u003c\/em\u003e novel about sex, a romantic novel about power and a comic yet sympathetic novel about the vagaries of the human heart. Even the least politically oriented reader will find it engrossing.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“There’s some real human tragedy (and comedy) at play here, and the panorama you get of a nation on edge is an eye-opener.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSeattle Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44887718920421,"sku":"NP9780060878139","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780060878139.jpg?v=1730227311","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-yacoubian-building-a-novel-isbn-9780060878139","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}