Circling the Square: Stories from the Egyptian Revolution - Softcover

Steavenson, Wendell

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062375261 ISBN 13: 9780062375261

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2016

Synopsis

A writer for the New Yorker describes the Egyptian Revolution in a series of vignettes as told by citizens of Cairo from differing backgrounds who each took in the violence and elections from a different points of view.

About this title

Review:

[Steavenson] creates a vibrant sense of being on the ground in Cairo --Los Angeles Times"

A moving, empathetic portrayal of a central movement of our time: the brave Egyptian people s attempt to end repression without the tools or the leaders to succeed. --Library Journal"

Impassioned coverage from the front lines of a historic Middle Eastern uprising An intensive firsthand exploration of modern Egyptian liberation and solidarity. --Kirkus"

Few books are better than this one at conveying the confusion and excitement of those days on the square. --New York Times Book Review"

There is much to praise in her evocative, impressionistic sketches of the stirring events in Egypt Her actual writing is first-rate. She cares deeply about her subjects but her critical acuity and keen sense of humor see through their foibles and contradictions. --Washington Times"

Steavenson weaves together a mosaic portrait that tightly focuses on the people of the revolution. --Minneapolis Star Tribune"

"Few books are better than this one at conveying the confusion and excitement of those days on the square."--New York Times Book Review

"Steavenson weaves together a mosaic portrait that tightly focuses on the people...of the revolution."--Minneapolis Star Tribune

"[Steavenson] creates a vibrant sense of being on the ground in Cairo..."--Los Angeles Times

"There is much to praise in her evocative, impressionistic sketches of the stirring events in Egypt...Her actual writing is first-rate. She cares deeply about her subjects but her critical acuity and keen sense of humor see through their foibles and contradictions."--Washington Times

From the Back Cover:

What happened to the promise of Tahrir Square and the Arab Spring?

On January 25, 2011, the world was watching Cairo. Egyptians of every stripe came together in Tahrir Square to protest Hosni Mubarak's three decades of brutal rule. After many hopeful, turbulent years, however, Egypt seems to be back where it began, with another strongman, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, in power. How did this happen?

In Circling the Square, Wendell Steavenson uses literary reportage to describe the intimate ironies and ad hoc movements of the Egyptian revolution--from Mubarak's fall to Mohammed Morsi's. Vignettes, incidents, anecdotes, conversations, musings, observations and character sketches cast a fresh light on this vital Middle Eastern story.

Closely observing a wide range of people from a thug in a slum with a homemade gun to the democracy/documentary makers on Tahrir Square, to fundamentalist imams and military intelligence officers, Steavenson dares to ask: what am I looking at and how can I begin to understand it?

With a novelist's eye for character, Steavenson paints indelible, instantly recognizable portraits and dilemmas that illuminate universal questions. What does democracy mean? What happens when a revolution throws the ideas and values of a society into crisis? What is a revolution, and, finally, what can it accomplish?

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0062375261
• ISBN 13: 9780062375261
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384