The Book of Gossip: Nobles, Rogues, and Poor People, by: Fouad Siraj Al-Din

This may be the first appearance of the book since it last saw the light about three decades ago. Muhammad Badawi, in his concise introduction, says: "In this unique book, there is a collection of pen portraits or portraits, as the author called them, by noble, dreamy intellectuals with a new world, loyal to authentic writing and artistic creation. And others are ruffians, who were not prevented by culture from lying, hypocrisy, and playing roles contrary to culture." This book can be considered an artistic and creative exhibition of models and patterns of Egyptian intellectuals (and some Arabs), writers, thinkers, critics, and artists, depicting part of the spiritual and social image of the atmosphere of Egyptian culture in the mid-20th century. Fayad wrote these portraits combining purposes of history, documentation, storytelling, and biography, relying on the means of "depiction" to reveal the dimensions of good and evil and their transformations within the souls of his characters. All of these can be classified or described as "problematic characters," suffering to varying degrees from schizophrenia, accompanied by tension and anxiety, a sense of greatness or persecution, which does not alleviate or lift anything from their whispering level of writing and creativity, which they practice in an attempt to restore balance and achieve self-identity. Number of pages: 450