The Man In The City

This statue to Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz stands in Midan Sphinx in Mohendessin. He seems to be walking down the road against the skyline in his characteristic glasses carrying his cane. I first met Mahfouz (only in print unfortunately) on my first trip to Egypt when I found a copy of Midaq Alley in a hotel bookshop and was utterly blown away by the man's writing skill. Every trip after that one included searches in the (then scarce) bookshops to find his work in English so that I could take them back to Canada where I would press them on unsuspecting friends saying, "You HAVE to read this man. He is one of the finest writers I've ever read." When he got his Nobel Prize in the 80's I wrote to my friends in Canada on postcards with just one word: "See!!!" One of my most prized possessions is an autographed set of the Palace Walk trilogy.