Waguih Ghali's only published novel,
Beer in the Snooker Club(1964), is a love letter to two cities, Cairo and London, which has received very little recognition in either. The novel, written in English, allows us to see the Suez Crisis, Nasser's regime, and indeed Europe and the Empire, from the perspective of an educated and urbane Egyptian. It is an astonishingly original view. Moreover, Ghali's seductive voice weaves together a captivating political narrative and a sophisticated romance with wit and pathos. Although it garnered positive reviews in the British and American press in 1964 and again on its reissue in 1987, Ghali's image of Egypt did not seem to fit the existing categories: “it is not the familiar blend of romanticism and exoticism of [Lawrence] Durrell and others nor…
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Citation: Thomas, Susie. "Waguih Ghali". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 September 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12226, accessed 14 December 2024.]