The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street.

New York: Doubleday, 1990-1992. Uncorrected proofs of author's most well known work; a trilogy originally published in Egypt in the 1950's and which garnered him the Nobel Prize in literature decades later in 1988. Octavo, 3 volumes, original illustrated wrappers. Each volume is signed by Mahfouz and in near fine condition. Translated by William M. Hutchins and Olive E. Kenny. Books signed by Mahfouz are rare as he left Egypt only twice during his life, each time only but for a short time. The Cairo Trilogy traces three generations of the family of patriarch Al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad, who rules his household with a strict hand while living a secret life of self-indulgence. The Trilogy is the achievement of a master storyteller reminiscent of Tolstoy. Laid into Palace Walk is the publicity from Doublday. "Naguib Mahfouz is not only a Hugo and a Dickens, but also a Galsworthy, a Mann, a Zola, and a Jules Romains" (Edward Said). Naguib Mahfouz's epic trilogy of colonial Egypt is the captivating story of a Muslim family in Cairo during Britain's occupation of Egypt. Al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad is a tyrannical patriarch that governs with a strict hand while secretly living in self-indulgence. His actions doom him to witness over the course of three generations the wane of his familial influence against the themes of rising modernity, and he witnesses against his will his offspring spawn followers of Communist, Muslim fundamentalist, and powerful politicians. The Cairo Trilogy is a compelling drama with remarkable insight that deserves the Nobel Prize it won in 1988.