{"product_id":"shelf-life-chronicles-of-a-cairo-bookseller-nadia-wassef-hardcover","title":"Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller - Nadia Wassef (Hardcover)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eThe warm and winning story of opening a modern bookstore where there were none, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eShelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e recounts Nadia Wassef’s troubles and triumphs as a founder and manager of Cairo-based Diwan\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe streets of Cairo make strange music. The echoing calls to prayer; the raging insults hurled between drivers; the steady crescendo of horns honking; the shouts of street vendors; the television sets and radios blaring from every sidewalk. Nadia Wassef knows this song by heart.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn 2002, with her sister, Hind, and their friend, Nihal, she founded Diwan, a fiercely independent bookstore. They were three young women with no business degrees, no formal training, and nothing to lose. At the time, nothing like Diwan existed in Egypt. Culture was languishing under government mismanagement, and books were considered a luxury, not a necessity. Ten years later, Diwan had become a rousing success, with ten locations, 150 employees, and a fervent fan base.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrank, fresh, and very funny, Nadia Wassef’s memoir tells the story of this journey. Its eclectic cast of characters features Diwan’s impassioned regulars, like the demanding Dr. Medhat; Samir, the driver with CEO aspirations; meditative and mythical Nihal; silent but deadly Hind; dictatorial and exacting Nadia, a self-proclaimed bitch to work with―and the many people, mostly men, who said Diwan would never work.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eShelf Life \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eis a portrait of a country hurtling toward revolution, a feminist rallying cry, and an unapologetic crash course in running a business under the law of entropy. Above all, it is a celebration of the power of words to bring us home.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nadia Wassef","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42834783830064,"sku":null,"price":124.74,"currency_code":"MYR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0672\/6605\/2144\/files\/81MV8sulxcL_1500x_jpg.webp?v=1773168981","url":"https:\/\/literabooks.co\/products\/shelf-life-chronicles-of-a-cairo-bookseller-nadia-wassef-hardcover","provider":"Litera Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}