Shelf Life

ΓÇ£As a bookseller,I loved Shelf Life for the chance to peer behind the curtain of DiwanNadia Wassef ΓÇÖs bookstoreΓÇöthe way that the personal is inextricable from the professionalthe way that failure and success are often loversthe relationship between neighborhoods and books and life. NadiaΓÇÖs story is for every business owner who has ever jumped without a netand for every reader who has found solace in the aisles of a bookstore.ΓÇ¥ ΓÇöEmma Straubauthor of All Adults Here ΓÇ£Shelf Life is such a unique memoir about careerlifelovefriendshipmotherhoodand the impossibility of succeeding at all of them at the same time. It is the story of Diwanthe first modern bookstore in Cairowhich was opened by three womenone of whom penned this book. As a bookstore owner I found this fascinating. As a reader I found it fascinating. Blunthonestfunny.ΓÇ¥ ΓÇöJenny Lawsonauthor of Broken (in the best possible way) The warm and winning story of opening a modern bookstore where there were noneShelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller recounts Nadia WassefΓÇÖs troubles and triumphs as a founder and manager of Cairo-based Diwan The streets of Cairo make strange music: the echoing calls to prayerthe insults hurled between enraged driversthe steady crescendo of horns honkingthe shouts of street vendorsthe television sets and radios blaring on every sidewalk. Nadia Wassef knows this song by heart. In 2002with her sisterHindand their friend NihalWassef founded Diwana fiercely independent bookstore. They were three young women with no business degreesno formal trainingand nothing to lose. At the timenothing like Diwan existed in Egypt. Culture was languishing under government mismanagementand books were considered a luxurynot a necessity. Over the next decadethese women would contend with censorschauvinistscriticsand one another in establishing Diwan as CairoΓÇÖs leading bookstore. Frankfreshand very funnyWassefΓÇÖs memoir tells the story of this journey. Its eclectic cast of characters features Samirthe driver with CEO aspirations; the meditative and mythic Nihal; the cool but cutting Hind; the dictatorial and exacting Nadiaa self-proclaimed bitch to work with; the storeΓÇÖs impassioned regularsincluding the demanding Dr. Medhat; and the many peoplemostly menwho said Diwan would never succeed. Shelf Life is a portrait of a country hurtling toward revolutiona feminist rallying cryand an unapologetic crash course in running a business under the law of entropy. Above allit is a celebration of the power of words to bring us home.