'A master of both detailed realism and fabulous storytelling' GUARDIAN FROM THE NOBEL
PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR - WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY HISHAM MATAR After an assassination attempt
and in waning health Naguib Mahfouz became more cautious in his twilight years. At the same
time in nightly dreams his imagination began to roam his beloved city Cairo with a rare
freedom. In this collection of vivid vignettes linked together by the author's precisely
rendered nocturnal wanderings through Cairo figures from Mahfouz's personal life blend with
his anxieties about Egypt's political past and future. Each dream is layered with
philosophical and spiritual musings hopes and disappointments. Over the course of the book
they build to a rich and complex picture of Mahfouz's subconscious. 'The Arab world's foremost
novelist' NEW YORK TIMES 'Freshly nuanced and hauntingly lyrical' LOS ANGELES TIMES 'A
towering literary figure' ECONOMIST
