Black Cat Tavern

The star's real name is, but it is colloquially called the Black Cat Tavern, due to its large black cat, the beloved of its owner, the withered, pointed Turkish, and the friend of customers and their amulets. Naguib Mahfouz wrote this collection in the sixties, and it came laden with the concerns of the phase and its repercussions, which was deeply reflected in the story that carried the collection's title; "Black Cat Tavern," in which he addressed the despair that swept most Egyptians at the time of defeat, through a group of drunken people fleeing harsh reality to the illusion of the tavern; where they live a fleeting, false happiness, making indifference their only and effective weapon to face oppression and strength. In the story "The Drunken and the Bomb," he sarcastically depicted the bleak scene and the absence of vision; here is the drunkard who has not left his place, choosing laughter and passive watching of the protesting crowds until he is accused of hitting the officer and detonating the bomb; he is imprisoned for a year, then emerges as a hero in the eyes of people, and considers running for elections! The collection also contained human aspects that Mahfouz highlighted very deeply, emphasizing the presence of human conscience at the heart of the absurd scene, such as the story "Children's Paradise," rich with a profound dialogue between a father and his daughter.