Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller

by Nadia Wassef

Hardcover, 2022

Status

Available

Call number

381.45002092

Genres

Collections

Physical Books, EvaStreet

Publication

Corsair (2022)

Description

The streets of Cairo make strange music: the echoing calls to prayer, the raging insults hurled between drivers, the steady crescendo of horns honking, the shouts of street vendors, the television sets and radios blaring from every sidewalk. Nadia Wassef knows this song by heart. In 2002, with her sister, Hind, and their friend, Nihal, she founded Diwan, a fiercely independent bookstore. They were three young women with no business degrees, no formal training, and nothing to lose. At the time, nothing like Diwan existed in Egypt. Culture was languishing under government mismanagement, and books were considered a luxury, not a necessity. Ten years later, Diwan had become a rousing success, with ten locations, 150 employees, and a fervent fan base. Frank, fresh, and very funny, Nadia Wassef's memoir tells the story of this journey. Its eclectic cast of characters features Diwan's impassioned regulars, like the demanding Dr. Medhat, Samir, the driver with CEO aspirations, meditative and mythical Nihal, silent but deadly Hind, dictatorial and exacting Nadia, a self-proclaimed bitch to work with, and the many people, mostly men, who said Diwan would never work. Shelf Life is a portrait of a country hurtling toward revolution, a feminist rallying cry, and an unapologetic crash course in running a business under the law of entropy. Above all, it is a celebration of the power of words to bring us home.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member MickyFine

In 2002, Nadia Wassef, along with her sister, Hind, and close friend, Nihal, opened Diwan - the first modern bookstore in Cairo. This memoir covers the years she co-managed what eventually became a chain of bookstores from 2002 until a few years after the Arab Spring, when she made the decision to

emigrate to the UK. With each chapter themed around sections of the store (Egypt Essentials, Classics, Pregnancy and Parenting, etc), the memoir is roughly chronological and recounts goings on both within setting up and managing the store and Wassef's own personal life. While I originally picked up the book for the bookseller angle, the ultimate draw here for me was exploring a city and culture about which I knew very little. Wassef is up front about the place of privilege she came from and the challenges of running a successful business in a community where most of the residents can't afford to buy recreational reading (including most of her staff). Evident from Wassef's writing is that she is a strong and unapologetically abrasive woman, and while that meant I didn't always like her, her writing is compelling. The initial chapters are a bit uneven in style and can leave the reader floundering to determine when things are happening but otherwise, this was a thoroughly rewarding read. Recommended.

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LibraryThing member jetangen4571

cultural-exploration, cultural-heritage, bookseller, Egypt, business, family, family-dynamics, friendship, misogyny, businesswoman, identity, entrepreneur, Arab-world-view, 21st-century, politics, trailblazing, class-consciousness*****
In a culture historically dismissive of women, with a negative

history of colonialism and political upheaval, this woman and her sister and friend decided to do something altogether new. They started a bookstore. With a cafe. And toilets for women. Naysayers said that Egyptians don't read and don't buy books. Not true! She takes us through the highs and lows of learning business and personnel management along with the peculiarities of governmental oversight. The business thrived until Arab Spring and world turmoil, and she opted out at a time of governmental change before the pandemic. What a wonderful book! Added benefit was learning so much about Egyptian history, literature, and culture!
I listened to this memoir in audio and narrator - Vaneh Assadourian- was a perfect match for the text. I have a thing about being able to pronounce names and words that are out of my comfort zone and she filled that role while speaking English as clearly as my Norwegian relatives.
I requested and received a free temporary copy from Dreamscape Media via NetGalley. THANK YOU!

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LibraryThing member Helenliz

This tells of a Cairo book store that aimed to break the mould. Set up by 3 women, this was always going to be a different environment. The books si structured in sections of the store, with something about the books and philosophy behind the section then is uses that as a launch pad into

discussions on running a book store, staff issues, corruption, the problems encountered, language, culture, family and anecdote.
It is full of interest and I discovered a lot that I'd not considered. My only caveat is that there is little joy in this book. The venture started out as one of those "if you could do anything, what would you do" conversations. So if running a book store is your dream, surely that should bring you some joy. It feels a lot like the pressure of the business elements and the associated staff and monetary issues sucked the joy from the experience. This might be a warning for those who follow their dreams.

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