Hardcover: 302 pages
Publisher: University of California Press (July 1, 1997)
ISBN: 0520206118

Rated five stars *****

REALLY Excellent book, But Different From What I Had Expected

I ordered this book expecting it to talk about marriage practices in Egypt. While the book touched on this, in less (or different depth) than I had expected, I really did get a lot more than I bargained for.

This book is exceptional, in that it is written by an Islamic (Iranian) woman sociologist, who had lived in, and obtained her degree in England. While she had to study Egyptian Arabic to converse with the people, she lived with them, and was able to understand many more facets of their culture in a different way than a westerner would have, and she was also more accepted and trusted by them because she was a Muslim (and her knowledge of Islam was extensively tested by her subjects in her early months of research). Yet, she is unlike most Arab sociologists in that she is able to write this book for a WESTERN audience.

However, the book is aimed more toward professional anthropologists/sociologists, than the general public, as evidenced by her extensive citations and discussions of research methods. But in spite of that, I as a general reader, never found the book boring. It was difficult to put down. I was particularly interested in this subject, as I had spent several months living in Egypt during the same time the author was doing her research (1990), and compared my experiences to the author's. Her experiences and information are so much more extensive and rich.

The book basically covers every facet of how poor men and women are able to 'make it' and 'get by,' especially when the majority of them are forced to work outside of the formal sector. I am an American who has lived and worked in Morocco for 12 years; I found that her book more fully explained much of the behavior I see here in Morocco among the poorer classes, even though the economic conditions (especially level of government subsidies) are not the same. The book shows the behavior of the poor to be very LOGICAL and WORKABLE solutions to their problems, within the frameworks they have to work in.

The book covered pre-marriage negotiations extensively, REALLY explaining the THINKING behind these negotiations. Again, even having lived in Morocco for 12 years, and even having married into the society, these things were never clear to me before, as they really are now.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is seriously trying to understand the THINKING of both men and women in Arabic cultures, and how that thinking, and the subsequent actions which follow from that thinking, is different from western cultures.

Lastly, this book presents a more POSITIVE view of Egyptians than I have EVER seen. Unfortunately, so many of the Egyptians that tourists, especially, come in contact with, tend to be hustlers, leaving foreigners with a distasteful impression of all Egyptians. This book was really uplifting, positive, and refreshing, presenting so many honest, hard-working, caring people who constantly help each other out! I would have liked to meet many of these people myself. It really shows the Egyptians in a positive way.

Reviewed by

Mary Mimouna

Marrakesh, Morocco

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