THE MAGNIFICENT CONMAN OF CAIRO

Worlds collide with satiric wit in 1930s Cairo in this rediscovered classic.

Khaled, the spoiled idle son of a pasha, meets Malim, carpenter's apprentice and son of a scoundrel, when he comes to fix a broken window. This chance encounter alters the lives of both men: Malim is thrown in jail and Khaled decides to break ties with his tyrannical father and suffocating upper-class existence.

They meet again years later, when Malim has been released from prison and given up on earning an honest living. Khaled gets caught up in Malim's latest scam and is drawn into joining his commune of eccentrics and failed artists living in a derelict Mamluk citadel.

Adel Kamel's masterful tale of fathers and sons, innocents and tricksters, is filled with compelling drama, vivid characters, and sharp satire.

Adel Kamel (1916-2005) was an Egyptian novelist, short story writer, and playwright. He was a founding member of the informal "harafish" writers' collective that included such eminent writers as Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz and Salah Jahin. He was considered to be at the vanguard of his generation, leading the push toward realism in Arabic literature, and many critics recognize the importance of his legacy as a radical
writer.