Cairo Swan Song

Mustafa never became the great poet or famous songwriter he meant to be, and none of his loves has lasted: Hind was killed by a stray shell, Zeinab left for Mexico, Yasmine could never replace Hind, and the American Marsha is not enough for him, nor he for her. Sedatives and visits to a psychiatrist barely touch his melancholy. His world is downtown Cairo and its café, where very different people gather: Essam, who has withdrawn into a kind of mysticism; Ahmed al-Helw, who has swung from the revolutionary left to Wahhabi piety; foreigners like Marsha; and the street children ruled by Karim. Through them the novel records how the neighbourhood and a whole generation have changed, from the hopes of the 1970s to the wars and protests of recent years.

AI-generated summary

About the book

Form

Novel

Genres

Love, Politics (assigned by AI)

Set in

Egypt, 2000s

First published

2007 by Al-Dar

Author's age

52 when first published

ISBN

9781906697181 (Arabia Books, United Kingdom)

9789774167423 (American University in Cairo Press, Egypt)

9789774169366 (American University in Cairo Press, Egypt)

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