ABSTRACT
Which French novelist, in Henry Miller’s opinion, surpassed even Gorky and Dostoyevsky in depicting the despair, debasement, and resignation of the poorest inhabitants of sprawling twentieth-century cities? The answer is Albert Cossery (1913–2008), a French-writing Egyptian novelist who lived in Paris for more than sixty years. Miller was characteristically exuberant in his comparison, as Cossery admitted, but the author of Tropic of Cancer rightly emphasized the force with which the Cairo-born writer evokes the down and out. Cossery’s seven novels and one short-story collection indeed impress with their harsh truths, vivid scenes, compelling anti-heroes, and especially their bleak humor.
