Taxi (book)

Taxi is a collection of 58 short stories by Khaled Al Khamissi, first published in December 2006.

A book dedicated "to the life that lives in the words of poor people."^[1] Taxi is a journey of urban sociology in the Egyptian capital through the voices of taxi drivers. Through recounting the stories of different taxi drivers he encounters, the author offers some insight into contemporary Cairo and Egypt.

Writing

Taxi is the first Egyptian book written mainly in dialect to achieve success. A tradition of writings in dialect has always existed in the Arab world, but colloquial Arabic has never achieved real literary approbation. However, in recent years a new generation of young Arab authors—including Mohamed Salah al-'Azab, Ahmed al-Aidi, Ahmed Naghi, Tareq Imam and Nail al-Tokhi—has begun an innovative literary movement known as al-Riwaya al-Gadida (The New Novel), linked to the phenomenon of bloggers. In this context, Taxi is an important literary achievement because it has become a bestseller. Not only was it reprinted 7 times in one year, it sold more than 75,000 copies in a country, Egypt, where 3,000 books sold is considered a success. Not only does this book play a large part in the revival of dialect in contemporary Egyptian literature, it delves into important socio-political issues.

Taxi has been translated into English by Jonathan Wright and was published by Aflame Books in 2008.

Reviews

The book has received some positive reviews:

• "It's a book about the petty, daily frustrations of Egypt's working poor as they scratch out a living in the almost unworkable metropolis of Cairo. It's a book to make you feel guilty you ever tried to bargain down a cab fare in any poor country."^[2]
• "A novel that dresses down sharp social and political commentaries into the simple words of work-a-day taxi drivers, a rather daring approach here as censorship is a real issue. But his daring has sent the book flying off shelves."^[3]
• Taxi's brilliance is that it captures the point at which cabs cease to be just a means of transportation and instead become a space for debate and exchange."^[4]
• Taxi's plucksstartling beauty and poetry out of the cacophony of everyday life. Khaled Al Khamissi reawakens our dulled sense of wonder, outrage, and sorrow, and that is anawesome achievement."^[5]

Notes and references

1. ^ Khaled al-Khamissi, in Taxi. Hawadit al-mashawir
2. ^ Chicago Tribune
3. ^ The Christian Science Monitor
4. ^ Foreign Policy
5. ^ Baheyya.blogspot.com

Editions

• al-Khamissi, Khaled (2006). Taxi. Hawadit al-mashawir. Dar El Shorouk, Cairo. pp. 224, cap. 58. ISBN 9789770916834. 
• al-Khamissi, Khaled (2008). Taxi. Cabbie talk. Aflame Books, London. pp. 220, cap. 58. ISBN 9781906300029. 
• al-Khamissi, Khaled (2008). Taxi. Le strade del Cairo si raccontano. collana Altriarabi. il Sirente, Fagnano Alto. pp. 216, cap. 58. ISBN 9788887847147. 

External links

• Arabic version
• English version
• Italian version