The Crisis of History in Jabra’s Novels

In an interview in 1990, Jabra Ibrahim Jabra commented on the need for “a change of vision…a new way of looking at things" in an Arab world "betrayed by thousands of years of decay” (Nasrawi). This sense of impasse has been a long-standing theme in Arab literary and cultural contexts, addressing what is seen as …

Being Abbas El Abd

Being Abbas El-Abd (2006) by Ahmed Alaidy is not as wickedly funny and sharp as it is touted to be. It's a little depressing. It's inspired by Chuck Palahniuk - and as this review notes, the influence shows. "Being Abbas el Abd has a theme and plot – and a twist ending – so similar …