First published in 1961, this novel by a Nobel Prize-winning author tells the story of a man who blames an unjust society for his ill fortune. He reverts to old, thieving habits, and eventually brings himself to destruction in a cruel world.
Three By Mahfouz represents a comprehensive collection of Mahfouz's work on twentieth-century life. These novels, previously published separately by Anchor, are meditations on the vicissitudes of post-Revolution Egypt. While they are diverse in style and narrative technique, together they render a vision of modern culture that is rich, nuanced, and utterly unique -- both specific to the Middle East and with implications for the universal dilemmas of contemporary life.

"The Beggar" is a complex tale of alienation and despair. Unable to achieve psychological renewal in the aftermath of Nasser's revolution, a man sacrifices his work and family to a series of illicit love affairs that intensify his feelings of estrangement. A passionate outcry against irrelevance, and a masterful work of fiction.

Released from jail in post-revolutionary times, the hero of "The Thief And The Dogs" blames an unjust society for his ill fortune, reverting to old, thieving habits, and eventually bringing himself to destruction in a cruel world that denies him redemption even when his cold heart is eventually softened by love.

"Autumn Quail" is a tale of moral responsibility, alienation, and political downfall featuring a corrupt young bureaucrat, Isa ad-Dabbagh, who is one of the early victims of the purge after the 1952 Revolution in Egypt. Mahfouz presents a remarkable portrait of the clash between past and present, a portrait that is ultimately an optimistic one in which the two will peacefully coexist.

Naguib Mahfouz has contributed to The Thief and the Dogs as an author. NAGUIB MAHFOUZ was born in 1911 in the crowded Cairo district of Gamaliya. He studied philosophy at Cairo University, then worked in various government ministries until his retirement in 1971. His first three published novels were Khufu's Wisdom (1939), Rhadopis of Nubia (1943), and Thebes at War (1944), all of which are set in ancient Egypt. These political and philosophical critiques disguised as historical romances show the unmistakable signs of