{"product_id":"shelf-life","title":"Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003ePrice:  \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e78.0AED\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003ePicador USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eISBN: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e9781250858863\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe streets of Cairo make strange music: the echoing calls to prayer, the insults hurled between enraged drivers, the steady crescendo of horns honking, the shouts of street vendors, the television sets and radios blaring on every sidewalk. Nadia Wassef knows this song by heart.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn 2002, with her sister, Hind, and their friend Nihal, Wassef 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. Over the next decade, these women would contend with censors, chauvinists, critics, and one another in establishing Diwan as Cairo's leading bookstore.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrank, fresh, and very funny, Wassef's memoir tells the story of this journey. Its eclectic cast of characters features Samir, the driver with CEO aspirations; the meditative and mythic Nihal; the cool but cutting Hind; the dictatorial and exacting Nadia, a self-proclaimed bitch to work with; the store's impassioned regulars, including the demanding Dr. Medhat; and the many people, mostly men, who said Diwan would never succeed.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eShelf Life\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e 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.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLocation: Lower level C- 3\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kutubna Cultural Center","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52969737060634,"sku":null,"price":78.0,"currency_code":"AED","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0761\/5561\/7562\/files\/1250858860.webp?v=1790698282","url":"https:\/\/www.kutubna.ae\/products\/shelf-life","provider":"Kutubna Cultural Center","version":"1.0","type":"link"}