Leg over Leg

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESSISBN: 9780814729373

Volume One

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By Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq, Edited and translated by Humphrey Davies
Imprint:
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
Release Date:
Format:
HARDBACK
Dimensions:
229 x 152 mm
Weight:
40 g
Pages:
416

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Description

Leg over Leg recounts the life, from birth to middle age, of 'the Fariyaq,' alter ego of Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq, a pivotal figure in the intellectual and literary history of the modern Arab world. The always edifying and often hilarious adventures of the Fariyaq, as he moves from his native Lebanon to Egypt, Malta, Tunis, England and France, provide the author with grist for wide-ranging discussions of the intellectual and social issues of his time, including the ignorance and corruption of the Lebanese religious and secular establishments, freedom of conscience, women's rights, sexual relationships between men and women, the manners and customs of Europeans and Middle Easterners, and the differences between contemporary European and Arabic literatures. Al-Shidyaq also celebrates the genius and beauty of the classical Arabic language. Akin to Sterne and Rabelais in his satirical outlook and technical inventiveness, al-Shidyaq produced in Leg Over Leg a work that is unique and unclassifiable. It was initially widely condemned for its attacks on authority, its religious skepticism, and its "obscenity," and later editions were often abridged. This is the first English translation of the work and reproduces the original Arabic text, published under the author's supervision in 1855. A bilingual Arabic-English edition.

Foreword ixA Note on the Text xxxiThe Dedication of This Elegantly Eloquent Book 6Author's Notice 8An Introduction by the Publisher of This Book 16Proem 20Raising a Storm 36A Bruising Fall and a Protecting Shawl 64Various Amusing Anecdotes 72Troubles and a Tambour 84A Priest and a Pursie, Dragging Pockets and Dry Grazing 92Food and Feeding Frenzies 108A Donkey that Brayed, a Journey Made, a Hope Delayed 116Bodega, Brethren, and Board 124Unseemly Conversations and Crooked Contestations 134Angering Women Who Dart Sideways Looks, and Clawslike Hooks 148That Which Is Long and Broad 162A Dish and an Itch 174A Maqamah, or, a Maqamah on "Chapter 13" 190A Sacrament 202The Priest's Tale 212The Priest's Tale Continued 222Snow 244Bad Luck 254Emotion and Motion 282The Difference between Market-men and Bag-men 312Notes 321Glossary 351Index 355About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute 366About the Typefaces 367About the Editor-Translator 368

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