The Day the Leader Was Killed

By Naguib Mahfouz

Book Overview

From the Nobel Prize laureate and author of the acclaimed Cairo Trilogy, a beguiling and artfully compact novel set in Sadat's Egypt.

The time is 1981, Anwar al-Sadat is president, and Egypt is lurching into the modern world. Set against this backdrop, The Day the Leader Was Killed relates the tale of a middle-class Cairene family. Rich with irony and infused with political undertones, the story is narrated alternately by the pious and mischievous family patriarch Muhtashimi Zayed, his hapless grandson Elwan, and Elwan's headstrong and beautiful fiancee Randa. The novel reaches its climax with the assassination of Sadat on October 6, 1981, an event around which the fictional plot is skillfully woven. The Day the Leader Was Killed brings us the essence of Mahfouz's genius and is further proof that he has, in the words of the Nobel citation, "formed an Arabic narrative art that applies to all mankind."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385499221
• ISBN13: 9780385499224
• Release Date: June 2000
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 0.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Number 3 in the Assassination Chronicles.

Beware, this novel is only 103 pages and can be read in a couple of hours, which I did. This is for me, the third in a series of novels depicting the assassinations of various Heads of State. It started with the novel, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, of the suspicious death of Pakistani President, Muhammad Zia ul-Haq. This book was quite a funny read despite the topic and led me to order Charlie Wilson's War for a deeper dive into that part of the world; and hopefully more clues into that mystery. That book mentioned The Feast of the Goat in the Afterword. I just recently finished that book which for me, was a hitherto unknown look at Dominican history; and the assassination of Rafael Trujillo, a truly eye opening and fascinating look at life under Trujillo, so much of it was unknown to me. This thin book was a bit of a let down in the assassination chronicles, considering that just two years before, Sadat concluded the Camp David Accords which led to a Peace Treaty with israel, and most likely led to the reason for his demise. Wily Ole Anwar held his Office alot longer than most Egyptians thought he would, his Security failed him though. Taking any suggestions for further reads in the Assassination Chronicles.