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Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller…
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Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller (urspr publ 2021; utgåvan 2021)

av Nadia Wassef (Författare)

MedlemmarRecensionerPopularitetGenomsnittligt betygOmnämnanden
1357201,108 (3.39)18
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.… (mer)
Medlem:MickyFine
Titel:Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller
Författare:Nadia Wassef (Författare)
Info:Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2021), 240 pages
Samlingar:Lästa men inte ägda
Betyg:***
Taggar:library, non-fiction, memoir, Cairo, Egypt, bookseller, friendship, family

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Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller av Nadia Wassef (2021)

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» Se även 18 omnämnanden

Visa 1-5 av 7 (nästa | visa alla)
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. ( )
  Helenliz | Jan 13, 2024 |
A memoir from Nadia Wassef about her experiences co-founding one of the best-known bookstores in Egypt, roughly chronological but arranged around themes like "Egypt Essentials" and "Pregnancy and Parenting." This wasn't really what I'd expected going into the book, and Wassef is such an obliviously abrasive narrator in so many ways that I didn't enjoy Shelf Life very much. Unlike many other GoodReads reviewers, I didn't care about Wassef's use of profanity—it's frequent, yes, but if you find yourself clutching your pearls over how many times she uses the word 'fuck' here, I would gently suggest you never visit Ireland or you'll find yourself having a fucking stroke. It's how she spoke about many of those around her that bothered me. If my employer ever handed me a uniform with the pockets already sewn up in it out of the presumption that I'm likely a thief? I would be walking out of there ASAP. ( )
  siriaeve | Jul 14, 2023 |
audiobook nonfiction (~7 hrs)

Cairo bookstore co-owner talks about running a successful business (dealing with disapproving men and government censorship) and becoming a mother and divorcee prior to the Arab Spring events. Mostly light (but still scholarly) reading with moments of levity (and occasional profanity) -- recommended. ( )
  reader1009 | Mar 17, 2023 |
I like reading about books about bookstores -- I have enough of them that I should probably make a little shelf for them. What makes Wassef's contribution significant is that she was, with sister and friend, founding a contemporary western style bookshop, the first one, in Cairo, twenty plus years ago and that they were all women owning and managing. Running a bookshop successfully is difficult in any circumstance, but they took on a monumentally challenging project. Wassef herself is a passionate and opinionated and likely a rather abrasive person and her story is open and honestly written about the problems she faced in work and home life not just because of the challenges, but because of who she is and how she handles problem-solving and conflict. The book is organized carefully and the writing is very solid and straightforward but Wassef is not a story-teller. This is a memoir by a person who loves books and reading, who is committed to learning about herself and others. (She starts out scoffing both business and self-help books, for example, but ultimately curiosity and need bring her to look at them quite differently.) If you love bookstores and like reading about them, you will enjoy and learn here. ***1/2 ( )
  sibylline | Mar 14, 2023 |
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. ( )
1 rösta MickyFine | Nov 15, 2021 |
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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.

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