"I wish I were an Egyptian, if I weren't already." With this famous quote from Mustafa Kâmil, who fought for his country's independence from the British a hundred years ago, "The Records of Issâm Abdalâti" begins in Alaa al-Aswani's collection of stories. At the center is a disillusioned young man who has nothing but scorn for the supposed greatness of the Egyptians: In truth, his compatriots are cowardly and hypocritical, wicked and mean, lazy and spiteful. An intelligent, gifted person like Issâm, who refuses to conform, is inevitably doomed to a life on the fringes. The most successful Arab author of our time dissects and exposes with ruthless irony yet again the modern Egyptian society and the violence, hypocrisy, and pervasive corruption within it: a society full of contradictions, a country in turmoil.