Proud Beggars

Mystery & Suspense, Police Procedural, Fiction & Literature, Literary
Cover of the book Proud Beggars by Albert Cossery, New York Review Books
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Albert Cossery ISBN: 9781590174630
Publisher: New York Review Books Publication: December 27, 2011
Imprint: NYRB Classics Language: English
Author: Albert Cossery
ISBN: 9781590174630
Publisher: New York Review Books
Publication: December 27, 2011
Imprint: NYRB Classics
Language: English

Early in Proud Beggars, a brutal and motiveless murder is committed in a Cairo brothel. But the real mystery at the heart of Albert Cossery’s wry black comedy is not the cause of this death but the paradoxical richness to be found in even the most materially impoverished life.
    
Chief among Cossery’s proud beggars is Gohar, a former professor turned whorehouse accountant, hashish aficionado, and street philosopher. Such is his native charm that he has accumulated a small coterie that includes Yeghen, a rhapsodic poet and drug dealer, and El Kordi, an ineffectual clerk and would-be revolutionary who dreams of rescuing a consumptive prostitute. The police investigator Nour El Dine, harboring a dark secret of his own, suspects all three of the murder but finds himself captivated by their warm good humor. How is it that they live amid degrading poverty, yet possess a joie de vivre that even the most assiduous forces of state cannot suppress? Do they, despite their rejection of social norms and all ambition, hold the secret of contentment? And so this short novel, considered one of Cossery’s masterpieces, is at once biting social commentary, police procedural, and a mischievous delight in its own right.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Early in Proud Beggars, a brutal and motiveless murder is committed in a Cairo brothel. But the real mystery at the heart of Albert Cossery’s wry black comedy is not the cause of this death but the paradoxical richness to be found in even the most materially impoverished life.
    
Chief among Cossery’s proud beggars is Gohar, a former professor turned whorehouse accountant, hashish aficionado, and street philosopher. Such is his native charm that he has accumulated a small coterie that includes Yeghen, a rhapsodic poet and drug dealer, and El Kordi, an ineffectual clerk and would-be revolutionary who dreams of rescuing a consumptive prostitute. The police investigator Nour El Dine, harboring a dark secret of his own, suspects all three of the murder but finds himself captivated by their warm good humor. How is it that they live amid degrading poverty, yet possess a joie de vivre that even the most assiduous forces of state cannot suppress? Do they, despite their rejection of social norms and all ambition, hold the secret of contentment? And so this short novel, considered one of Cossery’s masterpieces, is at once biting social commentary, police procedural, and a mischievous delight in its own right.

More books from New York Review Books

Cover of the book A Visit to Don Otavio by Albert Cossery
Cover of the book The House of Four Seasons by Albert Cossery
Cover of the book The Memoirs of Two Young Wives by Albert Cossery
Cover of the book Going to the Dogs by Albert Cossery
Cover of the book Basti by Albert Cossery
Cover of the book Lolly Willowes by Albert Cossery
Cover of the book The Go-Between by Albert Cossery
Cover of the book INRI by Albert Cossery
Cover of the book The World As I Found It by Albert Cossery
Cover of the book Junkspace with Running Room by Albert Cossery
Cover of the book Fighting for Life by Albert Cossery
Cover of the book Traitor by Albert Cossery
Cover of the book Makers of Modern Architecture, Volume III by Albert Cossery
Cover of the book The Rim of Morning by Albert Cossery
Cover of the book Down Below by Albert Cossery
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy