Winner of the Nobel Prize 

Mahfouz’s first nonfiction book published in the United States is a collection of autobiographical reflections reminiscent of such works as Pascal’s Pensées. The short and pithy passages Mahfouz presents are not simply a narration of incidents in his life, but a personal reflection on situations and events that have lodged in his memory and influenced him. A departure from his acclaimed fiction, Echoes of an Autobiography shows Mahfouz to be not only a wonderful storyteller, but a profound thinker as well.

Translated by Denys Johnson-Davies.

“A haunting commonplace book of tranquil wisdom.” —Kirkus Reviews

“This mosaic of autobiographical vignettes, reflections, allegories, childhood memories, dream visions, and Sufi-like spiritual maxims and paradoxes is a deep pool of wisdom that confirms his stature as a writer of universal appeal.” —Publishers Weekly
  • WINNER | 1988
    Nobel Prize
Naguib Mahfouz was born in Cairo in 1911 and began writing when he was seventeen. His nearly forty novels and hundreds of short stories range from re-imaginings of ancient myths to subtle commentaries on contemporary Egyptian politics and culture. Of his many works, the most famous is the Cairo Trilogy, consisting of Palace Walk (1956), Palace of Desire (1957), and Sugar Street (1957), which focuses on a Cairo family through three generations, from 1917 until 1952. In 1988, he was the first writer in Arabic to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. He died in August 2006.  View titles by Naguib Mahfouz

About

Winner of the Nobel Prize 

Mahfouz’s first nonfiction book published in the United States is a collection of autobiographical reflections reminiscent of such works as Pascal’s Pensées. The short and pithy passages Mahfouz presents are not simply a narration of incidents in his life, but a personal reflection on situations and events that have lodged in his memory and influenced him. A departure from his acclaimed fiction, Echoes of an Autobiography shows Mahfouz to be not only a wonderful storyteller, but a profound thinker as well.

Translated by Denys Johnson-Davies.

“A haunting commonplace book of tranquil wisdom.” —Kirkus Reviews

“This mosaic of autobiographical vignettes, reflections, allegories, childhood memories, dream visions, and Sufi-like spiritual maxims and paradoxes is a deep pool of wisdom that confirms his stature as a writer of universal appeal.” —Publishers Weekly

Awards

  • WINNER | 1988
    Nobel Prize

Author

Naguib Mahfouz was born in Cairo in 1911 and began writing when he was seventeen. His nearly forty novels and hundreds of short stories range from re-imaginings of ancient myths to subtle commentaries on contemporary Egyptian politics and culture. Of his many works, the most famous is the Cairo Trilogy, consisting of Palace Walk (1956), Palace of Desire (1957), and Sugar Street (1957), which focuses on a Cairo family through three generations, from 1917 until 1952. In 1988, he was the first writer in Arabic to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. He died in August 2006.  View titles by Naguib Mahfouz

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