Every Thursday for nearly a decade, Nagiub Mahfouz’s brief column of recollection, refelction, and comment has appeared in the Al-Ahram Weekly. This celebratory volume, published on the occasion of the Nobel laureate’s 90th birthday, brings together a selection of the more personal, reflective pieces that have appeared since 1994. They reveal a writer concerned with the human condition, with his own thought processes, and with the craft of writing, offering insights into the way a writer thinks and works.