SOURCE: “Conversation with Mahfouz,” in Africa Report, Vol. 35, No. 2, May–June, 1990, pp. 65–66.

In the following essay, Cole explores the cultural influences on Mahfouz's writing and his growing popularity as an author.

Teenagers playing dominoes and backgammon filled the cafés as I rushed down Misr' Adimah's tired, dusty streets toward the public telephone station. The smell of garlic, fresh molokhia, and parsley hung in the air.

It was a little after 5 pm, my appointed time to contact Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz. A fellah, a bundle under his arm, was using the one working telephone. Anxiety filled me. I had one day left in Egypt to see Mahfouz. Now I felt like a character in one of his novels.

Cairo had changed since my last visit seven years ago. It now has a metro system and commuter boats plying the Nile, helping the beleaguered buses and trolleys move the...