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.
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