Chicago
A Novel
Alaa Al Aswany
Translated by Farouk Abdel Wahab
To my mother and my father,
hoping I haven’t disappointed them
Contents
Chapter 1
Many do not know that chicago is not an English…
Chapter 2
The University of Illinois is one of the largest schools…
Chapter 3
At the student dorm at the University of Illinois in…
Chapter 4
Professor Dennis Baker raised his hand in favor of admitting…
Chapter 5
As soon as the train stopped, its doors opened and…
Chapter 6
Dr. Muhammad Salah had not expected anyone to visit him…
Chapter 7
Tariq stood on the alert, staring at Shaymaa as if…
Chapter 8
When Dr. Ahmad Danana asked for the hand of Miss…
Chapter 9
Thirty years later he still remembers that night vividly.
Chapter 10
For a whole hour, Ra’fat Thabit kept tossing and turning,…
Chapter 11
How Shaymaa has changed!
Chapter 12
Despite the fearsome aura that surrounded Ahmad Danana, a closer…
Chapter 13
Dr. Salah followed the psychiatrist’s advice and took his wife…
Chapter 14
“I am not so stupid as to fall for this…
Chapter 15
Behind the green curtain covering the window, in the room…
Chapter 16
The reverence with which Professor Dennis Baker is regarded could…
Chapter 17
Since Chicago was settled, black migration to it has not…
Chapter 18
Shaymaa banged the tray down hard on the table. Some…
Chapter 19
When instructor Karam Abd al-Malak Doss found out that he’d…
Chapter 20
Marwa called her parents on Friday. As soon as her…
Chapter 21
“Good morning. I’m calling about the job you advertised”.
Chapter 22
After Dr. Salah told his wife that he wanted a…
Chapter 23
Everything that happened to Tariq Haseeb that evening was out…
Chapter 24
When Sarah opened the door, Jeff was standing behind her,…
Chapter 25
Ever since General Safwat Shakir was a student at the…
Chapter 26
Carol was so terrified she looked pale. Her heart raced,…
Chapter 27
That morning, Chris gave in to an inner call that…
Chapter 28
Not a day passed without Tariq Haseeb dipping into the…
Chapter 29
It was an elegant three-story building surrounded by a beautiful…
Chapter 30
“Dr. Baker is known for his fanaticism against Muslims, and…
Chapter 31
How does winter turn into spring?
Chapter 32
“It’s Salah, Zeinab”.
Chapter 33
It was as though a muscle in Dr. Ra’fat Thabit’s…
Chapter 34
Dr. Friedman sat behind his desk and asked Tariq to…
Chapter 35
Why did Marwa agree to work with Safwat Shakir?
Chapter 36
That morning the Egyptian consulate building looked different, as if…
Chapter 37
The receptionist was a beautiful young woman with a smiling,…
Chapter 38
Dr. Bill Friedman bowed his head and placed it between…
Chapter 39
It was a wonderful night to celebrate the victory. Graham…
Chapter 40
The clock in the dorm lobby said it was 5:30…
Translator’s Acknowledgments
About the Author
Other Books by Alaa Al Aswany
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher
CHAPTER 1
Many do not know that chicago is not an English word but rather Algonquian, one of several languages that Native Americans spoke. In that language chicago meant “strong smell.” The reason for that designation was that the place occupied by the city today was originally vast fields where the Native Americans grew onions, the strong smell of which gave the place its name.
Native Americans lived for scores of years in Chicago, on the shores of Lake Michigan, growing onions and herding cattle. They lived peacefully until the year 1673, when a traveler and mapmaker by the name of Louis Joliet, accompanied by a French Jesuit monk named Jacques Marquette, “discovered” Chicago. Soon thousands of colonists descended upon it just like ants on a pot of honey. During the hundred ensuing years the white colonists waged horrific genocidal wars, in the course of which they killed anywhere from five to twelve million Native Americans throughout North America. Anyone reading American history must pause at this paradox: the white colonists who killed millions of Indians and stole their land and other possessions were, at the same time, extremely religious Christians. But this paradox is resolved once we learn about the prevalent views in that era. Many white colonists believed that “American Indians,” even though they were, somehow, God’s creatures, were not created in the spirit of Christ but rather in another imperfect and evil spirit. Others confidently asserted that they were like animals, creatures without a soul or conscience, hence they did not have the same value as white men. Thanks to those convenient theories, the colonists were able to kill as many Native Americans as they liked without any shadow of regret or feelings of guilt. No matter how horrific were the massacres they conducted all day long, it did not detract from the purity of their bedtime prayers every evening. The genocidal wars ended with a crushing victory for the founding fathers. Chicago was incorporated as an American city in the year 1837 and in fewer than ten years had swelled to sixteen times its original size. Adding to its importance was its location on Lake Michigan and its vast pastures. Then the railroads made Chicago the indisputable queen of the American West.
The history of cities, like the lives of humans, however, suffers vicissitudes of happiness and pain. Chicago’s black day came on Sunday, October 8, 1871. In the west of the city lived Mrs. Catherine O’Leary with her husband, children, one
