{"product_id":"shelf-life-paperback","title":"Shelf Life - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eNadia Wassef\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"As a bookseller, I loved \u003ci\u003eShelf Life\u003c\/i\u003e for the chance to peer behind the curtain of Diwan, Nadia Wassef 's bookstore--the way that the personal is inextricable from the professional, the way that failure and success are often lovers, the relationship between neighborhoods and books and life. Nadia's story is for every business owner who has ever jumped without a net, and for every reader who has found solace in the aisles of a bookstore.\" --Emma Straub, author of \u003ci\u003eAll Adults Here\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eShelf Life \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eis such a unique memoir about career, life, love, friendship, motherhood, and the impossibility of succeeding at all of them at the same time. It is the story of Diwan, the first modern bookstore in Cairo, which was opened by three women, one of whom penned this book. As a bookstore owner I found this fascinating. As a reader I found it fascinating. Blunt, honest, funny.\" --Jenny Lawson, author of \u003ci\u003eBroken (in the best possible way)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe warm and winning story of opening a modern bookstore where there were none, \u003ci\u003eShelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller\u003c\/i\u003e recounts Nadia Wassef's troubles and triumphs as a founder and manager of Cairo-based Diwan\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe streets of Cairo make strange music: the echoing calls to prayer, the insults hurled between enraged drivers, the steady crescendo of horns honking, the shouts of street vendors, the television sets and radios blaring on every sidewalk. Nadia Wassef knows this song by heart. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn 2002, with her sister, Hind, and their friend Nihal, Wassef 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. Over the next decade, these women would contend with censors, chauvinists, critics, and one another in establishing Diwan as Cairo's leading bookstore. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrank, fresh, and very funny, Wassef's memoir tells the story of this journey. Its eclectic cast of characters features Samir, the driver with CEO aspirations; the meditative and mythic Nihal; the cool but cutting Hind; the dictatorial and exacting Nadia, a self-proclaimed bitch to work with; the store's impassioned regulars, including the demanding Dr. Medhat; and the many people, mostly men, who said Diwan would never succeed. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eShelf Life\u003c\/i\u003e is 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.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNadia Wassef\u003c\/b\u003e is one of the owners of Diwan, Egypt's first modern bookstore, which she cofounded in 2002. She holds three master's degrees: an MA in creative writing from Birkbeck, University of London, an MA in social anthropology from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, and an MA in English and comparative literature from the American University in Cairo. Before cofounding Diwan, she worked in research and advocacy for the Female Genital Mutilation Task Force and the Women and Memory Forum. She was featured on the \u003ci\u003eForbes Middle East\u003c\/i\u003e list of the two hundred most powerful Arab women in the Middle East in 2014, 2015, and 2016, and her work has been covered in \u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMonocle\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eBusiness Monthly\u003c\/i\u003e, among other publications. She lives in London with her two daughters.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 240\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.55 x 8.25 x 5.38 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 04, 2022\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42097807523975,"sku":"9781250858863","price":19.44,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/ee6a1e05ec4e3391a96ae07af982418c.webp?v=1732356384","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/shelf-life-paperback","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}