"A testament to Aswany's talents as a writer, as he transitions seamlessly from dry intellectual commentary to vicious political satire and elegant social metaphors rendered through fictional representation. . . . For a figure such as Aswany, whose thought and opinion had proved so controversial in recent years, it is in the transition between different points of view, not the steadfast commitment to one particular ideology, that the true message lies. Or rather, it is in the transitioning between different polarised positions in relation to Aswany's continued and vocal assertion that "Democracy is the answer.'"
-- "Middle East Monitor"
"Al Aswany is a world writer, making Egyptian concerns into human ones and beautifully illuminating our always extraordinary and sometimes sad and baffling world."-- "Times"
"A peerless teller of personal stories that reveal a general truth, and one incapable--as admirers of The Yacoubian Building, Chicago, and Friendly Fire will know--of a dull or timid paragraph."
-- "Independent"