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Title: A weaving epic of a family and a village
Review: This is the tale of an extended clan, and the extended clans around them, in an Egyptian "alley." The book completely draws the reader into the desert setting, which somehow transforms everything by way of prickly heat... families, rulers, poets, princes, and the main characters themselves, all rise and fall, coming and going, eternally shape-shifting, like the sands. This is a family story, and an epic, set among the village poor. The Harafish is an excellent introduction to the literary tradition of Egypt and the Arab world; for another example of excellent fiction from an Arabic culture, though a bit less traditional and more political, try reading something by Saudi expatriate Abdelrahman Munif.
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