A Reader of Modern Arabic Short Stories

Designed for the English-speaking student, this reader brings together the Arabic texts of 11 modern Arabic short stories.

Each is preceded by an introduction in English, containing biographical information about the author and a critical analysis designed to encourage the student to make it a literary response to the story, rather than regarding it as an anthropological curiosity or a linguistic conundrum.

Notes explain colloquial and idiomatic words and phrases which may cause difficulty.

The stories cover a period of almost fifty years. The earliest dating from 1929, is by Egyptian writer Mahmud Tahir Lashin; the most recent, dating from 1972, is by Iraqi writer Fuad Al-Tarkali.

Other authors represented include Yusuf Idris, Yahya Haqqi, Zakariyya Tamir and Ghalib Halasa.