num_pages: 204
description: The bestselling author of he Yacaoubian Building and hicago turns his attention to current affairs in Egypt. In the novels and short stories of Alaa Al Aswany characters struggle with class differences police brutality poverty sexual harassment and political corruption; now in a new collection of the weekly newspaper columns previously published in Arabic Al Aswany considers these same issues that torment modern Egyptian society. He has a great deal to say about one of the most pressing questions on everyone's mind: who will be the next president of Egypt and how will he be elected? He discusses the moral ambiguity of appointed politicians the suitability of democratic reforms in a Muslim society and the inherent contradiction in the actions of the religiously observant policeman who tortures or the man who harasses women. Critical controversial and straightforward Al Aswany asks his government to serve the people and the people to demand what they deserve.
language: English
title: On the State of Egypt: A Novelist's Provocative Reflections
publisher: The American University in Cairo Press