Palace Walk: Cairo Trilogy (1)

Naguib Mahfouz, Najib Mahfuz. Anchor Books, $16 (512pp) ISBN 978-0-385-26466-2

This first volume in the 1988 Nobel Prize winner's Cairo Trilogy describes the disintegrating family life of a tyrannical, prosperous merchant, his timid wife and their rebellious children in post-WW I Egypt. ``Mahfouz is a master at building up dramatic scenes and at portraying complex characters in depth,'' lauded PW. (Jan.)

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