Al Aswany, Alaa

ALAA AL ASWANY originally trained as a dentist, and still has his own dental practice in Cairo. He worked for many years in the Yacoubian Building, which gave its name to his debut novel. The Yacoubian Building was longlisted for The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 2006, has sold over one million copies worldwide and was the bestselling novel in the Arab world for over five years. Al Aswany is also the author of Chicago (named by Newsday as the best translated novel of 2006) and Friendly Fire. His work has been translated into more than 30 languages and published in over 100 count...